The Snake
by gluegirl56
Summary: When a man is found dead at Grand Central Station, it's the beginning of something far bigger than the team imagine it to be. Can they solve it in time before the citizens of New York and the media is all over the case? Team story
1. Chapter 1

CSI NY – The Snake

_Disclaimer: I own nothing _

_Characters: Team _

_Genre: Hurt/comfort, strong friendship, crime _

_Spoilers: None set in early season 6_

_A/N: Okay this was a bit of a challenge because I had to do a lot of research about it so please forgive me if I am at fault because I am not into the medical field or a researcher on snakes for that matter. _

_Also this is a work of fiction, a work of a person who has been reading way too many adventure novels. There is nothing in this taken from the real world, any similarities are purely coincidental. _

_Again a huge thank you to Brii Taylor for the beta through the whole story, I need to be pointed in the right direction at times. Also any mistakes still in the text are my responsibility. _

oooooooooo

Chapter One

_Number One_

Don Flack sighed and kneeled beside the victim lying face down in the middle of Grand Central Station, his thoughts travelling back to the failed insurance scam that ended in the death of a plastic surgeon. However, this time the victim wasn't alive when the police arrived, and there were no signs of acid on the body. Instead, blood was smeared on the clothes and on the floor close to the body.

"Hey, there you are, I started to think you would leave me alone here," Flack complained as Mac and Lindsay walked up to him.

"Feeling alone at the Grand Central Station?" Lindsay asked and nodded at the crowd forming all around the crime scene.

"Just had a tough time getting through the morning traffic," Mac replied casually, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "What have you got for us?"

"I don't know actually," he said, looking at Mac. "I thought Hawkes was coming too?"

"Something came up," Mac replied. "He is finishing up the last case. You'll have to do with us for now."

"Why do I get a feeling I will have to pay for those words?" He said, watching Lindsay snap crime scene photos.

Mac pulled on a couple of gloves as he knelt down beside the man lying on the side and looked up at Flack. "No one bothered to at least see if he was alive?"

"No," Flack said. "Look at him, he was throwing up blood, a witness says he trashed around; they probably thought he was drunk or something."

Mac frowned as he examined the victim, noticing bleeding from the nose, ears and mouth. "This is definitely not consistent with alcohol poisoning."

Flack kneeled beside them. "So, are you heading out to celebrate the success of the last crime solving?"

"Why, you want part of it?" Mac asked, smiling as they sat next to the dead body.

Flack shrugged. "Might as well, I was there arresting the guy for it."

"Don't worry, you'll always have a special place in our hearts," Mac said, getting up.

"In your heart?" Flack asked with a grin, "I'm touched Mac." Seeing the glare directed at him he added, "I am serious."

"Tonight at Sammy's," Mac said. "Be there."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Don laughed. Mac and his team were like a family to him.

oooooooooo

Sheldon Hawkes sighed, staring into the microscope and then at the screen beside him.

"What have you got?" Stella asked as she walked over from another section of the lab.

"Not much, I am afraid. I've filtered the blood sample but…," he glanced at Stella, "…bad news. It's not a commonly known chemical, but from what I can tell it's highly toxic."

Stella stared at the magnified sample Hawkes had placed under the microscope. "What am I looking at?"

"Blood with very little plasma," he answered. "It has been destroyed. Something caused the victim's blood to…" he looked at her. "…just stop working,"

"You were going to give me a medical term?" She said, smiling at him.

"I know you want English so I changed my mind. What about you, have you had any luck finding out who he was?" Hawkes asked curiously.

"I have run his fingerprints through the database, not a hit; chances are he's not from here. Lindsay is processing his clothes in the hopes that we find something while Adam and Danny are trying to find out where he came from."

"Where's Mac?" The doctor asked expecting him to step through the threshold any minute.

"Down in autopsy talking to Sid about that needle mark you found on our John Doe," Stella replied.

oooooooooo

Flack glanced up from the menu as the CSI's walked in at the front door of the bar. "Hey, there you are. You know, this is the second time I am left waiting for you today. You are not going to make a habit out of this are you?"

Danny patted his shoulder. "We have never stood you up before, have we? Not going to do that now, either."

"Yeah, sorry Don," Stella said. "We kind of got into the next case."

"You've all spent too much time around Mac, you are all going to end up like workaholics," Flack said, raising his glass to the man in question as he neared.

"I was going to buy you a beer but if you keep going like that…" Mac said as he sat down next to him.

"So," Flack said, turning serious. "What's with the new case?"

"His name is John Barns, he works at a zoo in New Orleans," Stella explained.

"So, he's not from here," Flack said with a shrug.

"It's a sad story really," Lindsay said. "He left his little daughter at the grandmother to look after her while he attended work here in New York, said he would be back before she knew it."

"And now he is dead," Don said, "How old is she?"

"She's seven; apparently he has been taking care of her alone since his wife died in an accident when she was just a baby," Lindsay answered.

Stella leaned in over the table. "So far all we know is that he had two jobs in order to support his family and that he never complained. However one day he was too tired to pay attention to the dangerous reptiles he worked with and misplaced one of the world's most dangerous snakes."

"Huh, I take it the management at the Zoo didn't take that very well?" Flack said.

Danny snorted. "Not exactly, they fired him."

Stella continued, "They had brought in a new guy for the job but John was persistent and managed to get his job back. Then a couple of days ago he was to be in charge of a transfer from New Orleans to New York."

"A transfer of snakes," Lindsay clarified. "Two of the world's most dangerous snakes were coming into town."

"Huh," Danny said emptying his beer. "I hate snakes. Anyone want a refill?"

Hawkes gave him his glass. "One for me."

"Unfortunately, something went wrong and when he arrived at the zoo, one of the snakes was missing," Stella said.

"What? You're telling me that we have a poisonous snake on the run in the city?" Flack asked, alarmed.

"Better arrest him, Flack." Danny said getting back at the table.

Don made a face but let the comment pass. "All in a day's work, I am impressed."

"The only problem is that we still don't know the whereabouts of the snake or why the keeper was killed at the Grand Central Station," Lindsay said.

"Could it be the other guy, the one getting the job and then had to quit?" Flack reasoned.

"Maybe. Right now, there is too little to go on," Mac replied.

"Enough about that, let's just celebrate another hard case coming to an end," Stella said, raising her glass in a toast.

"I am sure you're going to nail the bastard that did it," Don said.

oooooooooo

_To be continued_

_You don't think it's going to be an easy task solving this are you? _


	2. Chapter 2

_/Thank you so much everyone who put this on alert and reviewed, you guys are great!_

ooooooooo

Chapter Two

_Another piece, another puzzle_

oooooooooo

"You're up early," Danny remarked, walking up to Flack, who stood over another body."

Don made a face. "Another day, another body."

"You know, we got to stop meeting like this," Lindsay said with a mischievous smile as she walked up to them, camera in hand.

An amused Flack threw her a glance. "Why? You brought your husband, nothing is going to happen."

"Oh, come on," Danny sighed, as he knelt down by the body of a young woman clad in jacket and slacks.

"What?" Flack asked. Both he and Lindsay walked over to him.

Danny had turned the victim around so that she was lying on her back. Blood was smeared on her shirt, hands and chin, and it also ran from her ears and nose.

"Don't tell me it's another one?" Flack said, afraid he already knew the answer.

"Most likely the same cause of death. The bleedings are almost identical to John Barns," Danny gently turned the victim's head back and forth to indicate the bleedings before looking up at his wife and friend with a grim look on his face. "Yeah, Mac's not going to be happy."

oooooooooo

"What do we have?" Mac asked, walking through the door to the conference room several hours later.

"More questions than answers, I'm afraid," Stella offered.

"When I left, Sid was still working with the body; he said he would join us later," Sheldon said as he leaned over the table to grab a printed picture of the Jane Doe. "But he's almost certain that this woman was murdered with the same poison as the zoo keeper, John Barns.

Hawkes saw the grim looks around the table, and he didn't like it either. The fact that it was the same method made it very possible they could be dealing with a new serial killer. Shaking off the bad feeling, he continued. "However, there is another little detail to this one that we didn't find when processing at Grand Central Station." He nodded at Lindsay who called up a picture of a tranquilizer gun.

"Isn't that something used to tranquilize larger animals at the zoo?" Adam asked curiously.

The former ME nodded, but it was Danny who answered the question. "Actually, Adam, you're right on the spot."

The lab tech beamed proudly, and Danny couldn't help but to shake his head at him as he continued. "As with John Barns we found a needle mark on our DB. This time at the right shoulder blade," he pointed at a picture Sid had taken showing the little mark where a needle had pierced the skin.

"That wasn't the only thing we found this time," Hawkes said, getting up from his chair and walking over to the screen as another picture, courtesy of Lindsay, materialized next to the tranquilizer gun.

He pointed at the screen. "This is a dart, or a ballistic syringe, loaded with an immobilizing agent and a needle, hence the mark on our Jane Doe's skin."

Mac leaned back on his chair and looked at the picture behind Hawkes. "A tranquilizer gun is mainly used to temporarily sedate large animals at the zoo," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Sheldon nodded, "The agent can be used as a sedative, an anesthetic or a paralytic," he explained.

"Actually," Adam began with a smug look on his face, "This way of immobilizing animals and, to some extent, even humans, has been used for thousands of years. But this type of gun, the modern tranquilizer gun used in zoo's today, was invented in the 1950's."

"Well, sound like someone has been researching," Danny said.

"The gun uses compressed gas to propel the dart away and the little tuft at the back of it is used to stabilize it during flight," Mac explained.

Sheldon turned around to briefly look at the picture of the gun before speaking again, "The small amount of poison that I managed to retrieve from the dart only raises more questions, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" Stella asked.

"I ran it through the GC/MS and found none of the tranquilizer normally used in a tranquilizer dart," Sheldon answered.

"What about the military? Do they perform any tests with tranquilizing guns on humans?" Stella wondered.

Mac leaned back in his chair, thinking about it for a moment, "Even if they did, you wouldn't find the types of agents they use at the zoo. Most of the drugs used would kill a human within minutes."

"Unless you deliver the antidote immediately," Sheldon added, looking at Mac.

The head CSI nodded and turned to his partner. "Stella," he said, "Run a DARPA search for military use of tranquilizers, see if they're working on any new poisons."

"Mac, you can't believe they are experimenting with that kind of things," Danny said.

"I intend to find out," Mac replied. "Danny what did you find out at the Zoo?"

"I had a chat with a Mr. Charles Robinson, the head veterinarian at the Central Park Zoo. He said it's not uncommon for this type of tranquilizers to be taken," Danny answered.

"Taken?" Lindsay asked, "Why would you take a thing like that?"

"Beats me," Stella said.

"Maybe the guy had a problem with his dog?" Adam offered.

Mac glared at him, "Not funny, Adam."

"Sorry, Boss," Adam apologized.

"Is there any apparent connection between the two victims?" Mac asked, ignoring the sulking lab tech.

"None that we now of at the moment, the woman is still Jane Doe," Stella replied.

There was knock on the door and Dr. Hammerback walked in. "Sorry I'm late, and I'm sorry I don't have much to offer you."

"No one's come up with the answer yet, Sid," Mac said as the ME took a seat next to him.

"Well, I can tell you that the woman occupying my exam table was executed in the same way as John Barns. A tranquilizing shot was fired, from quite a distance I might add, and hit the victim, in the shoulder."

"Her body was reacting to the toxin in her bloodstream, couldn't have taken much time, and she fell forward, vomiting blood." Sheldon said, trying to imagine the event.

"Not many people walks up to a person vomiting blood and asks how they are doing or if they should call for help, they believe it's some kind of freak show." Danny said angrily, looking at the picture of the woman.

"Then there is the big question of why?" Stella added.

Mac closed the folder in hand and leaned backwards in his chair. "There's an even larger question; do we have a serial killer on the loose?"

oooooooooo

Stella walked out of the elevator in the early morning and spotted Mac Taylor sitting in his office, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose. She headed his way and entered through the previously closed glass door.

"Mac, I hope you haven't been here the whole night."

He couldn't help but hear the underlying concern in her voice, "Saw no point in going home," he replied casually.

"You need to sleep, at least for a couple of hours," she said softly.

Mac glanced up at her for a moment, as she stood opposite his desk. "Stella I am quite capable of taking care of myself," he said wearily.

They stared at each other for a moment. "Fine," she said, annoyed. Then she sighed, "Anything new to the case?"

He handed her a file. "Our Jane Doe's name is Rose McKenzie. She works at a bank in Midtown."

Stella nodded, "At the bank? That explains her expensive clothing," she said.

"She works as a loan officer," Mac replied, handing a red folder to Stella.

Stella picked it up and began to skim through it, frowning. "Maybe someone didn't get a loan and held grudge against her?" She offered.

Mac tilted his head back, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe. I have Danny going to the bank as soon as it opens to talk with her colleagues," he said, rising from the chair. "In the meantime, you and I are going to the zoo."

oooooooooo

Danny yawned as the first rays of light filtered through the windows of the apartment.

"Sleep well?" Lindsay asked, smiling at him as she bent to pick up the dirty laundry from the floor.

"Yeah, are you up all-ready?" He asked glancing at his watch, "Great I'm supposed to be at the lab in 30 minutes."

"Me too, the baby sitter should be here any minute now," she returned.

Danny rubbed his tired eyes and stretched, "Didn't you have the late shift?" He asked.

"I switched with Juliana, figured Mac would want us both there the whole day, and probably night. I am just waiting for the media to get hold of the story about a serial killer," She really didn't want to think about it.

"Sinclair is going to hit the roof," Danny replied as he threw off the bed covers.

ooooooooo

A security guard held out his hand as Mac and Stella walked up to entrance of the Central Park Zoo. "I am sorry but you need to wait. The zoo doesn't open for another hour."

Simultaneously they flashed their badges, "Detectives Taylor and Bonasera, New York Crime Lab. open the gate," Mac said, offering the guard a polite smile.

The guard instantly opened the door for them. "Sorry sir, ma'am, I believe Mr. Mansfield is expecting you."

When they had gotten out of ear shot Stella leaned in to whisper in Mac's ear, "I think you scared him."

"Me? I bet it was you, a woman in high heels with a gun," he teased.

Stella looked ahead to see a man smiling at them.

"Detectives?"

Mac nodded.

"Bonasera and Taylor," Stella replied.

"Allan Mansfield, it's a pleasure to meet you, detectives," he said.

They shook hands as Stella continued, "I take it you are in charge of the personnel, are you also involved in the transfer of different sorts of animals?"

"No, that would be the head veterinarian, he's not in yet," Mansfield said, looking at Mac curiously. "Was there anything I could pass on?"

Mac shook his head, "No, another detective will come by later."

"Mr. Mansfield, we came to talk to you about a Mr. John Barns," Stella said, pulling up a note book and a pen from her pocket.

The personnel manager nodded thoughtfully, "Yes I remember him, a very persistent man but in the end also a very honest man."

Mac frowned, "In the end?" He questioned.

"I am sorry detective," Mansfield apologized, " I didn't mean it that way. We are all very sorry he died, he would have been a great asset to our team here if he had ever decided to move to New York permanently."

"Of what we can understand he was in charge of transporting animals from New Orleans to your park. Was that something that occurred regularly?" Stella asked, looking around at the various animals they passed along the way.

"No, very infrequent I must say, but we ran all business through him that we had with New Orleans and all the zoo parks works in networks in hope to find the right animals and so on, it goes worldwide," Mansfield explained.

"Do you have any idea who might want to see him dead?" Mac asked.

Allan Mansfield stopped and turned around to stand face-to-face with the detectives. "Not anyone around here that's for sure," he replied.

"Thanks," Stella said and tucked away her note book. "Just one more thing; have you found your missing snake?"

"I am afraid not, I am hesitant to call in the cavalry, if the media is to get their hands on this… well you get the idea," he answered sheepishly.

oooooooooo

Flack glanced over at Adam as the lab tech worked frequently on the computer, adjusting the cameras and whatever settings that had to be set for a video conference.

"And I am done, here you go Flack, I have an established link with New Orleans," Adam said, pleased with his work.

Don nodded as a man clad in a coverall with New Orleans Zoo logo on became visible on the screen. "Mr. Samuels?"

"_That's right, what can I do for you back in New York?" He asked._

"I am Detective Don Flack; I wanted to talk to you about an employee of yours, a Mr. Barns?"

_Samuels shrugged, "Go ahead detective; there isn't much to say about him." _

"I understand he has been working for you a couple of years, running business with other Zoo's and relocates animals, taking care of your snakes?" Flack asked.

"_You're spot on, he was a decent guy, tried to make a good living for himself and his daughter," _Samuels chuckled._ "One time he fell asleep on the watch and we had to hunt down an escaped python, caused quite a stir when found at the office." _

Flack nodded. "Actually that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about," he admitted.

"_Really?" Samuels replied reluctantly, his interest peaking. _

"Yes, the personal department wanted him out of the park?" Flack asked.

The New Orleans Zoo keeper nodded. _"He got fired on the day, with the explanation that a little child could have gotten hurt if the snake had been found in the park. We could have been looking at a fine of big proportions. Anyway he wasn't gone more than a few weeks," _he replied.

Flack frowned, "What happened to the guy, the one who got the job, was he relocated?" He wondered.

"_No, he wasn't really well liked around here. It was hard to get to know him, stayed mostly to himself. He had excellent references from abroad working with animals but…" _he trailed of and shrugged._ "Maybe that's what he should do, sit alone in the jungle and talk to monkeys all day, no humans to bother him there," _he finished.

Flack laughed, "Okay, can I have a name and some personal information about the guy?" He asked.

"_Called himself Drew Jackson, we don't take prints on the employees when we get references like that, so that's mostly it. I can send you the medical files and personal information about him from when he started working here if anything helps you. However I doubt he would have killed John Barns, no one could hold a grudge against him." _

"Thanks for your time Mr. Samuels," Don said.

"_No problem Detective Flack, I am sorry I couldn't be of more help to you," _Samuels replied.

Flack and Adam looked at each other as the connection was switched off.

"Apparently, our first victim was well liked," Adam offered, looking at Flack with a grimace.

"Well, someone did kill him; the question is, why?" Don sighed hopelessly, and rose from the chair he had been sitting on next to the lab tech. "Tell me, why is it that everywhere we turn with this case, it seem to be a dead end?"

oooooooooo

_/To be continued, also I love reviews, it's really helpful to know what I did well and what could be improved. Please push the little button and tell me. _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_One too many_

oooooooooo

The bank manager walked out of the vault and turned around to take one last look inside before sealing it shut with the heavy armored door. As he turned to walk away from the inner secrets of the bank, and retreat to the office area, he spotted a civil police officer standing in a laidback pose, leaning against a pillar. Mr. Charlie Reed sighed inwardly at the way the man was dressed, no style at all; the police officer or, detective as he seemed to be, given the badge, was clad in simple worn jeans and a white cotton shirt. NYPD had no style these days. He quickly glanced down at his own expensive business suit to make sure it sat straight and that it didn't sport too many wrinkles, before walking toward the police officer. "Can I help you?" The bank manager, Charlie Reed asked casually.

The Detective nodded thoughtfully and straightened, "I was told to wait for the bank manager as he did an inventory in the vault?" Danny asked. He saw the well clad man in his early forties nod to confirm he was talking to the right guy. "My name is Danny Messer and I'm a detective, working with the crime lab. I need to talk to you about one of your employees, Rose McKenzie," Danny glanced around the bank, "Is there any place we could talk undisturbed?" He asked.

"Yes, of course, please come this way," Reed said and walked up to a glass door with a sign that said; authorized personnel only.

Danny followed him through a maze of corridors until they reached the back of the bank and the bank manager's office.

"Do you know what happened to Rose?" Mr. Reed asked carefully as he eased himself down in a fluffy leather chair behind his desk.

If Danny was surprised to hear her first name from the bank manager he didn't voice it. "She was murdered on her way here yesterday morning. She was found a couple of blocks away, bleeding to death," Danny replied, letting his eyes wander to the various diplomas and certificates that decorated the walls.

"What happened?" Mr. Reed asked looking concerned. "Was she mugged?" He managed, raising his voice ever so slightly.

"No, she was shot down with a tranquilizer weapon taken from the zoo, a mean person put her to sleep." Danny knew it was on the border to rude but he didn't really care at the moment. He didn't go well with upper class people.

"But you said she bled to death?" Mr. Reed questioned, clearly confused, not following Danny's explanation.

"Yeah, the dart contained a highly toxic compound that caused severe hypovolemic shock and she bled out. Her heart stopped, and by the time anyone actually bothered to step up to her there was nothing no one could have done to save her," Danny said, trying to keep his voice neutral.

They looked at each other, both with a grim look on their face.

"Do you have any idea who would like to see her dead? Has she had any complaints filed against her recently?" Messer questioned.

Mr. Reed sighed and shrugged hopelessly, "There are always complaints from people who don't get their dreams to come true, but no one usually makes a decision here without consulting someone else." He got a distant look in his eyes, trying to recall something that could be of interest, "There was a woman who made a scene a couple of days ago, but nothing serious," he offered.

"It's a start," Danny encouraged. "Do you have her personal information?" He wondered.

The bank manager shook his head softly and leaned forward in the chair to look directly at Danny, "I'm afraid we can't hand out information about our clients just like that. Our policy…" he began diplomatically.

Danny raised his hand and fixed Mr. Reed with a hard stare. "Listen carefully now to what I have to say," he said shortly. "This is a murder investigation, and one of your employees has been killed," he finished as he felt his temper flair. _'What was wrong with this guy?'_ he thought bitterly. It wasn't like he was there for an economical advice. He didn't need to hear about the policy of the bank, he needed leads to solve the crime that had been committed, and if the file could give the team something he wasn't about to go from the bank empty handed.

Mr. Reed looked taken aback by Danny's tone for a while before nodding in understanding, "Okay, I'll give you our information about her, her name, her account numbers and the security tape from that day but please, handle it with care," he cautioned.

"I assure you, we will. Is there anyone else you can think of?" Danny asked.

"No, not really," he paused and adverted his eyes to focus on the desk in front of him. Then suddenly he whipped his head back up and looked directly at Danny. "Wait, there was a man a couple of weeks ago. He came to see Rose about a loan, a loan to get a company started. I remember that she knocked on my door and wanted to discuss it. The reason that I remember this one distinctly is because he was going to travel abroad with the money," Mr. Reed said, his brow furrowed but his eyes was still fixated on Danny.

"What happened?" Danny wondered, sensing there was more to come.

"We decided it was too unsafe for the bank to come to an agreement with him and when she told him that he couldn't have the money, he went nuts saying she had crushed his dreams and that he would hold the bank responsible for his misery but that's it, I haven't seen him since and she didn't mention anything either," Mr. Reed pressed his lips together to form a thin line.

Danny pulled a face. "What did he look like? Do you have information and security footage on this guy available too?" He asked.

"Yes we should have, I'll talk to the security chief," Mr. Reed volunteered and rose from his chair. "He was medium built with short brown hair, not the talkative guy and his clothing was regular," He took in Danny's appearance, "Like yours," offered sincerely.

Danny smiled politely but decided not to comment, "Does Rose McKenzie have any relatives or family that she mentioned to you?"

"No, but I don't go around and fraternize with my personnel about their private lives, we usually discuss important matters here," he returned dryly and opened the door, indicating to Danny that their discussion was over.

'_Well you don't go around and fraternize but you still call her by her first name, like you knew her well?'_ Danny thought bitterly as he heaved himself up from the leather chair.

"She seemed to be a happy woman," Mr. Reed offered casually, "And I fail to see why someone would want to hurt her," he finished, sadness etched into his face.

"Well, I you do remember anything else that would be of importance to our investigation don't hesitate to call," Danny said, handing over his card.

oooooooooo

"Taylor," Mac said into the phone, sitting at his desk.

"_It's Flack, listen I've got something for you and you are not going to like it," _Don said.

"Another victim?" He questioned.

"_Yeah and it looks the same to me, it's a woman, a demolition crew found her on the first floor of a doomed building. Given the tan it looks like she just arrived here from somewhere warm and sunny." _

Mac sighed inwardly at Flack's words. "We'll meet you there," he answered and got up from his chair to grab his jacket.

Hawkes looked up and out in the corridor as there was a hard knock on the glass. Mac gestured for him to come as he moved toward the elevator.

"What's going on?" Sheldon asked, walking briskly to catch up.

"Get your gear; we have another victim, the same as the other two," Mac replied shortly.

Sheldon looked up at Mac with a grim look on his face, "It's no question about it now, is it?"

Mac turned to look at the former ME as the elevator doors closed behind them. "No, it looks like we have serial killer running lose," he said, with a grave look on his face.

oooooooooo

_To be continued, I hope anyone is still following this. It might lack some action but that will come. _


	4. Chapter 4

_/My sincerest apologies for the long wait, so many things got in between. _

oooooooooo

Chapter Four

_Stalling the press_

oooooooooo

Lindsay pulled up the newly received pictures of the crime scene as Danny walked up from behind and put his arms around her.

Lindsay smiled, "How did it go at the bank?" she asked curiously.

Danny grimaced ever so slightly, "Well, do I look sloppy to you?" he returned bluntly.

"What?" Lindsay asked, tilting her head, smirking at her husband's expression and unusual question.

"Never mind," he shrugged. "I got the same answer as Flack when he researched the other victim's background. She was smart, bright and happy and no one had any idea of why someone would like to kill her," Danny replied, changing his voice to sound just like the bank manager.

Lindsay lightly slapped his shoulder. "So, nothing then?" she asked.

Danny sighed, "I've got two leads, angry customers, so I'm going to team up with Adam and see if we can come up with something," he said and glanced at the screen in front of her, "Have we got a new case?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, unfortunately and it's connected, we can't deny it anymore, Danny. There doesn't seem to be anything connecting our victims to each other. Let's face it; we have another serial killer," she said glancing up at him seriously.

oooooooooo

Sheldon glanced up at the partially demolished ceiling as he walked over a fallen beam, making his way over to where Flack was standing. "Hey, is this building safe?" he hollered worriedly.

"What's the matter Doc, afraid to be crushed?" Flack replied amusedly as he watched the former ME struggle through the debris caused by the demolition team.

"Something like that," Hawkes muttered.

Mac stepped over the beam and nodded at Sheldon as he walked past. "Is this the woman you called us about?" he asked when he saw the body of a tanned woman next to where Flack was standing.

"Yeah," Don kneeled next to her as Mac and Sheldon reached him. Sheldon pulled on a pair of gloves and didn't waste any time as he began to examine her lightly.

"What do you make of it Hawkes?" Mac said, looking down at the victim.

"I'd say she can't have been dead more than a couple of hours," he replied somberly as his gloved fingers traced her left shoulder.

Don glanced around unhappily as a creaking sound came from the floor substructure. "I'd appreciate if you would speed up things a little," he said.

Trying to ignore the comment Sheldon continued his examination and found what he had been looking for. "Here," he said and pointed at a needle prick on her shoulder.

Don peered over Hawkes shoulder with a frown, "Where is the dart?" he asked looking momentarily confused, "I mean it wouldn't fall off by itself," he added.

Mac tore his gaze from the body and studied the scene in front of him before finally turning to Flack. "He didn't think anyone was going to look for her here. The demolition crew found her by pure luck," Mac reasoned.

"Or bad luck for them," Flack replied dryly staring down at the forty something woman dressed in khakis.

It looked like she was coming directly from the deep jungle. And for some reason Don couldn't help but think back at the Zoo and their first victim. He shook his head and turned back to Mac, "If they hadn't stopped for a break and spotted her, there would have been no building left and we would never have found the body," he said grimly. "And if we by any chance would have discovered the remains, the crime scene would have been so contaminated that a foot print or two wouldn't have made any difference," he finished.

Sheldon frowned and glanced around the room. "Maybe he got careless," he mused.

"No, he is taking risks," Mac said plainly as he reached for his kit and gloves.

"If he did, it would be the first break through you've got this far, huh?" Don asked ironically.

Hawkes made a face. "Things are definitely looking good for us," he replied dryly.

oooooooooo

Stella walked into the lobby and headed straight for the elevator, the lift car had already been summoned so she sighed and watched the elevator display as it was counting down above the doors. "Come on", she groaned as she waited patiently for the doors to open.

She was in a bad mood, she hadn't found the answers she was looking for and now half the day had passed and she was still standing on square one. She couldn't think of anything or find anything that connected their victims to each other. Stella took a calming breath as the doors opened as she expected the media to come through, she sighed willing herself to keep her temper in check. However, her foul mode was soon replaced with relief as Mac and Sheldon became visible on the other side.

"Hey," Stella said with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You guys find anything?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Mac replied tiredly.

"Foot prints," Hawkes supplied looking from Stella to Mac. "I'll help Sid and see if we can speed things up a little, see you later," he turned on his heel and headed over to the stairs leading down to the morgue.

Stella watched him disappear behind a corner and turned to her partner as he stepped into the elevator.

"Have you got something?" Mac asked curiously.

"No," Stella replied, exasperated. "These last couple of hours has been a complete waste of time, there is nothing that connects our victims anywhere."

Mac frowned, "I know what you mean," he said as he saw the frustration in her eyes, and truth to be told, he was just as frustrated.

The familiar sound of the elevator reaching its destination sounded and the doors opened on the 35th floor. Stella couldn't help noticing the change in Mac's posture and she followed his gaze, "Looks like you have company," she stated.

Mac nodded looking at the back of Sinclair as the commissioner sat on in his leather couch, impatiently drumming his fingers. "I have been waiting for him turn up, looks like this is it," he sighed.

"I'll see if the rest of team has any new clues for us," Stella said squeezing his shoulder lightly as they went their separate ways.

The lead CSI let his eyes linger on his partner as she was making her way down the corridor. Then he turned back toward his office and pushed the glass door open. _'Might just get this over with,'_ he thought bitterly bracing himself for what was about to come.

"Taylor, would you mind tell me what's going on?" Sinclair demanded as Mac reached his chair behind his desk. "I have got hundreds of phone calls today about a mad man running around with a dart gun," he said glaring at Mac. "Taylor you know I don't like to be kept in the dark," he warned.

"I was going to call you when I had something more substantial," Mac replied as Sinclair rose from the couch and moved to stand opposite him.

"Substantial? Three people have been killed with the same weapon and you have no leads. For heaven's sake, Taylor, the media is starting to hunt me down!" the commissioner returned as he ran a hand through his hair and fixed Mac with a fierce stare. "You are duty bound to report things like this to me!"

"There is no reason to panic," Mac began but was cut short.

"You have no clue have you?" Sinclair asked accusingly, a worried expression on his face.

Mac returned the accusing glare but said nothing. What could he say, the commissioner had just given him the hard truth himself, and the crime lab had nothing.

The chief threw out his hands. "This is great Taylor," he said and turned to look outside, in the corridor, trying to calm down a bit before turning back to the lead CSI. "You'd better have something for me tonight, there is going to be a press conference," Sinclair finished. Deep down he knew Taylor was not to fault, the man was in fact one of the best, but his ass would be on the line if this mess wasn't sorted out soon.

Mac watched the back of his boss as the chief stormed out of his office and headed for the elevator. He sunk back in leather chair and sighed, feeling agitated he quickly rose from his chair and threw the glass door open and headed for a lab section further down the corridor.

oooooooooo

Stella, Danny and Adam glanced up from their various positions as Mac came walking briskly in the corridor.

"Oh this can't be good," Adam muttered as Mac walked in, his jaw set and his eyes flashing with contained anger.

"Please tell me you have something," Mac said shortly.

"Well," Adam began unhappily. "I think we can rule out the woman from the bank," he offered looking over at Danny for help.

Danny nodded. "The man, however, is another story," he added, watching his boss curiously wondering what had happened that had gotten him so riled up.

"Why, are you on to something?" Mac said as he felt a twinge of hope.

"Think about it for a while, our first guy, John Barns gets killed coming from the zoo. Flack had a chat with Mr. Samuels from the New Orleans Zoo who told him the guy who momentarily got his job was bit strange," Danny explained.

"That's not exactly what he said," Adam protested.

Mac looked from Danny to Adam patiently waiting for them to tell him the whole story.

"Okay, but he said the guy was an introvert, not good at dealing with people, although he had excellent skills working with animals and he had recently been away working with animals abroad," Danny finished. "Is that better, Adam?" he wondered.

The lab tech nodded, feeling a bit sheepish.

"That's no reason to kill another human being Danny." Mac said, "Besides he was killed in New York and not in New Orleans. If what you're suggesting is true, the murderer must have come from New Orleans too."

Danny nodded, looking frustrated, "I see your point, Mac, but the description of the guy was a medium built man with short brown hair, not very talkative, the same description I got at the bank. What is the probability of that?" he asked.

Stella rolled her eyes, "Come on Danny, there are thousands of people that could fit that description," she said and locked eyes with Mac and silently asked him how it had gone with Sinclair.

A disgruntled look appeared on his face and he shook his head slightly, placing his hands on his hips.

Stella nodded sympathetically at him.

Oblivious to what's been going on between Stella and Mac, Adam spoke up. "Actually, the security footage from the bank shows a man that could be taken for the guy working in the New Orleans Zoo," he said.

"And what about the large boot print next to our third victim?" Danny pushed.

"Around size 9, not exceptionally strange," Mac replied. "Lindsay is checking it out as we speak."

Danny sighed. "Just trying to come up with something," he muttered.

"I know and I appreciate it but, it's far from enough to get anywhere," Mac replied tiredly.

oooooooooo

Chief Sinclair looked out over the ocean of reporters that had gathered in front of the police station and felt a chill run through his body; they were going to eat him alive.

"Are you ready, sir?" A uniformed officer asked cautiously.

He nodded and took a step forward.

Immediately the reporters reacted pushing forward like one large mass.

A reporter pushed forward to stand as close as he could and reached out with his microphone. "Chief Sinclair, could you tell us in detail how the murders were carried out?" he asked eagerly.

The question seemed to break a dam, and suddenly, questions surged from all sides.

"Would you walk alone in the streets of New York when this killer is out there?" another reporter spoke up.

Sinclair held up his hand to stall any further questions, "I'm sure you already know that the killer uses a tranquilizing gun, originally meant for large animals, to shoot people with a deadly poison," he began.

A murmur ran the crowd. 'They even pretend to be surprised,' he thought bitterly.

"Sir, what kind of poison, and is there a cure?" One of the younger male reporters asked worriedly.

"Everything is being analyzed at the Crime Lab as we speak", he assured. "Head of the Crime Lab, Detective Taylor is leading the investigation."

"Chief, should we be afraid of walking the streets of New York?" This time the question came from a female reporter, who pushed up to the front row.

He swallowed, "No, there is no reason to panic," he said glancing at the crowd. He didn't have any answers for them. The only one with answers at the moment was the killer himself. Sinclair watched uneasily as the police officers standing at the back whispered something to each other. He really hoped they didn't have another victim on their hands.

"I also want to say that while we believe at this time that the killings might be connected, there is no way of telling yet if there really is a serial killer running around. You have to give our investigators time to…"

"When can we get access to further information from the Crime Lab?" a veteran reporter shouted, interrupting him. He had been in the business too long to be fooled by Chief Sinclair's thin attempts at stalling.

Sinclair stared at him for a while, openmouthed, before controlling his features again. "Neither I nor Detective Taylor will hand out any information vital to our investigation to the press," he returned coolly.

"Has the killer made any demands that we should be aware about?" The question came from a young reporter, still green, but Sinclair had done his duty and been told not to answer any more questions.

Sinclair nodded at an officer standing next to him and stepped back. "That's all for tonight," he said. _'Before they realize we have nothing to go on,'_ he added to himself bitterly.

His way into the building was cleared by uniformed officers even as the reporters clamored behind him for more information.

'_Okay Taylor', _he thought discouraged,_ 'I managed that one but next time won't be that easy, you better buy me time or hand me information or I'll have your head.' _

oooooooooo

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

oooooooooo

Chapter Five

_Tiny shreds of an answer_

oooooooooo

It had been two days since Sinclair had fed the reporters and the headlines just got bigger and bigger; media was even trying to solve it themselves.

Mac's features hardened as he looked at the latest headlines;

"Crazed Zookeeper Tranquilizes Humans!"

"Snake Vengeance?"

"Killer Zookeeper Takes Next Victim?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. Then he carefully tilted his head to the left and then to the right to try and ease the tension in his neck. Stella had asked him yesterday when he had last had some decent sleep, or at least been able to take a nap but he had found himself unable to answer.

As of right now he was sitting in the conference room alone, head in his hands, when Stella walked in. "Hey, there you are," she said softly but he could hear it in her voice, that she was disappointed to find him at work so early. "I was going to grab something for breakfast, you want to come?"

He glanced up at her and then at his watch. It read 05.30. "Lead the way," he said tiredly, getting out of the chair.

She looked back, amazed he hadn't argued, making sure he was coming. As he closed the glass door behind him Stella began to update him on the latest. She had, like most of the team, been working very late or around the clock. "Lindsay didn't have any luck with the print. It turns out to be a regular boot that you could easily purchase in any store from here to California. However, we did learn that our killer is a man with size 9 that has a tendency to walk on the outside of the boot," she offered glumly as they walked down the corridor.

Mac rubbed his tired eyes. "At least that's something," he replied with a wry smile.

Stella frowned. "Is Sinclair, still bothering you about the press conference?" she asked glancing at him just in time to catch his grimace.

"How did you know about that?" he asked.

"Gossip around the lab," she explained, unable to keep the smugness out of her voice.

He frowned and then narrowed his eyes as he gave his SIC one of his famous glares. "What about our third victim, did you get anything relevant from her travels around the world?" he asked, shrugging off Stella's answer as they reached the break room.

She took a deep breath and gave him a devilish half-smile. "Aileen Masters must have been some kind of adventurer, visiting all those exotic places, but what was most interesting to me is that she worked with snakes," she said as she stopped by the refrigerator and opened the door.

Mac frowned at her, grabbed two sandwiches and moved over to a nearby table. As she came to join him with two bottles of water, he looked at her expectantly.

"She was some kind of voluntary worker in the rain forest of Brazil and then back in Asia she helped out at a zoo," Stella finished happily as Mac handed over a sandwich.

He dug his teeth into the fresh bread filled with cheese and chicken salad. "She can't be the killer," he reminded her. "We have already ruled that out, partly due to the boot print and also because she didn't have any connection to the two former victims."

Stella narrowed her eyes and made a face, "Actually I asked Adam to do some digging and it turns out she owned a small company in Asia that worked in the medicine field, with what exactly I'm not sure," she took a bite of her sandwich and glanced at him, watching him contemplate her information.

"I fail to see the relevance in that," Mac said, shrugging as he threw the wrapping paper in the trash bin.

"Well, I don't know how, yet, but it's connected somehow," Stella said stubbornly as she produced from her pocket a small picture of a man in his early twenties with brown hair and dark brown eyes. "Sid found this while cleaning the victim," she handed it over with a smug expression, "Are you ready for this? It was hidden in her bra," she said.

Mac frowned, taking the picture from her. "A brown haired man medium build; its coming back to that all the time. However, this one is at least two decades younger than what the killer is believed to be," he said looking at Stella expectantly.

"Still, I think it might be connected somehow," she returned.

Mac waited for her to take the last bite of her sandwich before heading back toward his office, he nodded at her as she swept up her water bottle from the table and joined him. "Did you find out anything else about her?" he asked.

"Not much, unfortunately; she was alone, didn't have any relatives, and travelled a lot. That's pretty much it," his partner offered shrugging hopelessly as she pulled up her ringing phone from the pocket.

"Bonasera?" she answered casually.

Mac watched her face morph into a teasing smile as he could hear a man's voice at the other end and frowned.

Stella cast a quick glance in his direction and stopped in the corridor, Mac did the same. "Hey, I am starting to dislike hearing from you," she teased.

'It must be Flack', Mac thought. Then it occurred to him that he didn't know where he had put his own phone. He felt his pocket before realizing he had left it in the office, and cursed himself for being so thoughtless.

"Where?" she asked." Okay, we'll be there…and Flack? Don't start the fun without us," Stella finished. She hung up and rolled her eyes at Mac.

"Another one?" Mac asked, dreading the answer.

"Unfortunately," Stella said. She shook her head. "Well, look at the bright side; at least we got breakfast. Come on Mac, let's go."

An amused smile played on his lips as he followed her toward the elevator. "And when exactly did you take over the lab?" he asked teasingly.

She returned the smile. "Come on, my dear mighty Detective Taylor," she teased. Turning her back to him, she sighed, feeling a bit sheepish, _'Way to go Stella, that's what happens after too many coffees and too little sleep; you totally lose it,'_ she berated herself.

oooooooooo

Danny parked the car in the garage and got out of the vehicle. He stretched his neck and yawned, he had only been at home for a couple of hours and yesterday had been one of those long days when you either hadn't found anything of interest or just a tiny new piece of information. Lindsay had gotten home hours before him to take care of Lucy, relieving the nanny while he had aided Stella in search for a connection between the victims. Stella could be stubborn that way and he had a sneaking suspicion that was exactly why she and Mac worked so well together.

Of course he wanted to crack the case as much as the rest of the team, but staring at a computer screen for the fourth shift in a row, in the middle of the night was not his idea of fun. Finally, Stella had called it a night, leaving them both frustrated and bone tired.

Danny stretched his neck as he waited for the elevator to open its doors on the 35th floor; he let his head roll from left to right, trying to release the tension in his stiff muscles. As he stepped out he wasn't surprised to see so many people wandering around in the early hour. After Sinclair's visit Mac had called in extra personnel and no one needed to be told twice that this case was top priority. Danny caught himself wondering if Mac had had any sleep at all during these last few days. He had only taken two steps from the elevator before Mac and Stella came walking around the corner heading for it. By the look on their faces something was up, something every citizen of New York dreaded.

"Don't tell me…" Danny began.

"Another victim," Mac answered Danny's incomplete question.

"I don't believe that guy. I mean how he is doing it?" Danny asked, looking from Mac to Stella.

Stella scratched the back of her neck and stared down at the floor, having no clue as to what to answer her colleague.

Mac shrugged. "I don't have any answer to that yet, Danny, but someday he's going to make a mistake or grow careless enough and then we'll get to ask him," he replied.

"He's mocking us," Stella interjected as she stepped into the elevator.

"Which is exactly why we're going to expose him to the public," Mac answered calmly, joining his partner. He turned to Danny. "See if you could give Lindsay a hand," he said.

oooooooooo

Lindsay glanced up from the lab equipment as she saw her husband draw near.

"How's it going?" Danny asked happily, as he walked up to his wife.

"With what?" she returned testily and then sighed dejectedly. "Victim one, two or three?"

Even if she tried to hide it he could easily pick out the underlying frustration in her voice. "Hey, don't get angry with me", he said gently. "Here, take a snack bar." He handed her a plastic wrapped candy bar from the machine in the lunch room and gave her one of his most charming smiles.

Lindsay turned to face him, giving him a bewildered look and then made a face. "Sorry, I am a bit frustrated at this," she apologized.

He watched her dig into the bar as he knew she hadn't eaten any breakfast before she left home earlier and chose his words carefully, knowing she wouldn't like what he had to say. "Then you won't like the latest news, we have another victim," Danny said looking grim.

"Hey guys," Hawkes said walking into the same lab section, looking fairly pleased with himself.

"Sheldon, please tell me you have got something," Lindsay pleaded.

"Actually yes, I have managed to isolate the exact type of venom. The killer used a saw scaled viper, and guess what kind of snake that turned missing during the transport from New Orleans?" he finished enigmatically.

"A saw scaled viper," Danny replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

oooooooooo

Don Flack smirked as he watched Mac and Stella making their way toward him. "This one came jogging down the street early this morning…" he began and caught himself. "Okay, earlier this morning," he added seeing the looks he was getting from his colleagues. "I talked to a witness, who happened to walk the dog when it the murder occurred, and what he says confirms it was our man again. Our victim came down the street in a slow jog and then boom, got hit by a tranquilizer weapon," he explained.

Mac grimaced. "Been spending a little too much time with Danny lately?" he asked as he put down his kit and opened the bag.

Stella circled the DB, snapping off some photos before kneeling down next to it. Mac was already searching for clues with his gloved hands. "Shall we turn him over?" she asked, placing her own now gloved hands on the victim's shoulder.

Mac nodded and together they carefully turned the DB so that it lay on its back. "Bleeding from the nose, ears and mouth, no surprise there," Mac said dryly.

"And here is the murder weapon," Flack said and reached down to pick up the tufted dart. He examined it before handing it over to Mac.

Mac had a grim expression on his face. "Stella, contact Sid and tell him to prepare for another one," he said, turning to look at Flack. "We'll see if we can find something here that can tie a possible killer to the site. Go through all your contacts again and again until you can dig up something," he said.

Flack nodded, already fishing up his phone from his pocket.

Mac watched Flack reach for the crime scene tape that surrounded the site and bend down under it, heading towards his unmarked car. The lead CSI unsnapped his gloves and threw them into the kit and rose from his position next to the victim. _'When is this going to end?'_ Mac thought bitterly. He wasn't a very patient guy and there weren't many cases he and his crime lab hadn't cracked, but this one, he sighed and watched as the coroner arrived to the site, this one could mean an early retirement for him if he didn't' figured it out soon. He was pulled from his dark thoughts by the vibrating phone in his pocket and noticed with dissatisfaction that the caller was no other than Chief Sinclair himself.

oooooooooo

"Here we go again," Danny said cheerfully, emptying an evidence bag with clothes from the victim onto the light table.

"I am really starting to dislike this, there's got to be a way to get this guy," Lindsay said, fixing her husband with a fierce stare.

"One of these days he is going to make a mistake and then we are going to nail him," he replied, paraphrasing Mac's words from earlier.

"I hope you are right Danny, I really do," she said, sorting out the sweat pants and t-shirt to begin processing them. "How's the rest of the team doing, have they had any luck?" she asked. This was really starting to get to her; four victims after a week and the lab still had no real clue, only circumstantial evidence, and connected to what person?

"Flack is out on the streets in search for information from his suspicious contacts, Stella is still working on additional information about victim number 3, Sid is examining the new body and Adam is trying to tie the fingerprints to a name," Danny offered as he turned to glance out through the window at the grey skies. "Mac and Hawkes are working with the snake poison and the darts carrying it."

oooooooooo

"Okay," Hawkes began, looking at the darts in front of him.

They had three of them, all labeled with the name of the victim.

Mac walked in, buttoning his white coat. "I heard you've got some good news?" he said hopefully.

"Danny told you?" Sheldon asked, looking up at him from the murder weapons.

Mac nodded. "A saw scaled viper? It's one of the most dangerous snakes in the world," he commented, pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Yeah, not something you would want to meet," Hawkes returned grimly, scrutinizing Mac for a while. Even though Mac would never show it, Hawkes knew that the pressure from the media, the mayor's office and Chief Sinclair was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"How are you holing up?" Sheldon asked carefully, deciding to push his luck.

"What was it you wanted to show me?" Mac replied, ignoring his question.

A ghost of a smile crept over Hawkes lips. _'Not too good I guess,'_ he thought. Although Mac was his boss and not his patient Sheldon couldn't help but notice the signs of exhaustion. They needed Mac on his feet, level headed and fast thinking to solve this case.

"Here," Sheldon said. He pointed at the third dart. "Our killer is getting sloppy. On the first canister, we found, there was nothing, and the second one was clean as a whistle, too, but…" he pointed at the third one as Mac studied it intently. "This one has a very faint partial print," he explained.

"How many points are on it?" Mac asked, feeling hope returning to him.

"Three. I ran it through AFIS and got seven thousand possibilities, but if he makes one more little mistake, we have him." he looked at his boss, seeing the disgruntled look on his face and smiled again. "But there was something else. You see this?" He walked over to a computer screen.

Mac nodded. "It's an analysis of the venom," he said and moved to stand next to Sheldon.

"I've been trying to get a hold of a Doctor Annalyn Edwards, one of the most skilled researchers of snake venoms in the world, but I haven't had any luck just yet. I was hoping she could take a look at it and tell us what exactly we are dealing with here." He looked at Mac as his phone started ringing.

"Keep working on that Hawkes," Mac ordered, turning to exit the lab, leaving the former ME to wonder what the call was all about.

oooooooooo

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

_/ Thank you my dear readers and reviewers, I'm glad you're still with me. Also, this time, I promise to try and update regularly. From now on, there will be no beta work done to the story. That means that all the lovely grammatical errors I manage to put into the text will be there for you to read. _

oooooooooo

Chapter Six

_One step forward, two steps back_

oooooooooo

Stella tiredly sat down in her office chair and sighed. It was long after hours and time to go home but she couldn't leave just yet. Their third victim had had a partner, a man called Victor Bender, he fit the description of their phantom man, but unfortunately he had been dead for about a year. However, she couldn't stop thinking about it, there was something that eluded her and she didn't like it.

It seemed that every way they turned with this case, the door was slammed shut in front of them and the longer it took to solve the case, the more panic it caused out on the streets. Media was standing close to the lab just waiting for any news they could get their hands on and Sinclair was angry at the lack of results, taking it out on them. Mac was frustrated and, as always when a case like this presented itself, worked himself to a point near exhaustion. Tensions was starting to form between the other team members as well and for every step forward they managed to take they fell two behind.

There just had to be a reason, a connection somehow, a logical one that they didn't see, but what was it? She pondered the question and turned it around in her head, attacking it from every angle.

The phone suddenly rang; she glanced at the caller ID and frowned as it read unknown.

"Bonasera?" she answered.

"_Hello, is it Detective Bonasera at the New York Crime Lab?" _

The voice seemed familiar somehow but she couldn't quite place it. "Yes, how can I help you?" she added.

"_I am Dr. Morris, the chief veterinarian at the New York Zoo Park, I'm calling to tell you that we have recovered the snake, or rather what was left of it," _he said in a straight forward voice, assuming she recalled their meeting fresh in her head.

"I'm sorry, you better take it from the beginning," Stella replied confused.

"_I apologize, I assumed you knew. The saw scaled viper that mysteriously disappeared was found in an abandoned warehouse by some kids wandering around. They claimed that somebody was running away from the site as they walked through the door. I don't know how reliable three ten year old kids are, but one of them said there were canisters, vials and tufted darts sitting on a bench…" _he said, giving her the latest information.

Stella felt her hope rise. "They may have found our killers domain," she answered.

"_It was reported to the police, I thought they had told you," _the veterinarian said thoughtfully.

"Thank you Dr. Morris, I'll look into it, in the meantime I'll send someone over to see if there is any prints on the snake, you do have it in your possession?" Stella asked, ignoring the comment.

"_Yes, but I am afraid the kids played with it and that your specimen has been contaminated," _he answered.

"That's all right, we'll give it a try," she said and broke the connection, directly dialing another number. "Come on, pick up."

"_Detective Flack?" _Don said somewhat agitated, leaving Stella to ponder about what he had been doing. Ignoring it she set her jaw and headed for the coat hanger to get her jacket.

"Flack, what the hell is going on over there?" She demanded angrily.

"_Excuse me?" _Flack returned sounding confused.

"I just got a call from the zoo; they said the snake had been found in an abandoned warehouse together with canisters, needles and tufted darts. You know it's vital information that could lead us to the killer," she said, shrugging into her jacket, there was no mistake that Stella Bonasera was angry.

"_I am sorry, Stella, I didn't know," _Flack said simply, trying to diffuse Stella's anger by staying calm, even though it was damn hard at the moment.

"I'm coming down; we have to get to the site before everything is contaminated," she said, having calmed down a bit.

"_I'll wait for you,"_ Flack reassured.

Stella hung up and let out an exasperated sigh, she knew Flack would have told them the moment he got the knowledge about it. _'Damn, didn't the bunch of idiots down at the precinct understand how important this case was to the lab, and the mayor, to everyone? It must have been reported to someone,'_ she mused and looked up as Danny knocked on her door frame.

"We have some information about our latest victim," he said, holding up a folder.

Stella eyed it carefully, wanting to find the last pieces of the puzzle of every victim but as of right now she didn't have time to indulge in it. "Good, listen tell Adam to go to the New York Zoo Park, I've just got a call; the snake has been found," she said, delegating her tasks and gave him a curt nod as she walked past him and out in the corridor.

Danny smiled behind her back, "You want Adam to process a snake? The man doesn't walk closer than ten meters to anything the even looks like a snake," he said.

Stella turned around. "It's dead and certainly not going to bite him," she said as some the tension left her sore shoulders as she saw the amusement in Danny's eyes.

"Wait, where are you going?" Danny asked as she once again started to head down the corridor.

"Down to the precinct, the killer's lab may have been found, tell Mac, I'll let you know how it goes," Stella hollered over her shoulder.

oooooooooo

It was six in the morning when Mac pushed the play button on the recorder connected to the screen in his office. One of Sinclair's aides had brought it over in a late hour yesterday. It was a recording of the latest news report and the more he watched, the more agitated and angry he became. His features turned grim and his grip around the remote control tightened. He pushed rewind and then played it again.

A stoic male reporter looked uninterested into the camera. "And here is the latest report about the New York serial killer," he said, shifting a little on the chair, as a serious expression crossed his face. "It has been a week now and the New York Crime Lab still doesn't have a clue as to who the man is," he paused a little to build up the suspense and keep the viewers on their toes. "We have repeatedly tried to get a word with the leading CSI, the Head of the Crime Lab, Detective Mac Taylor, but to no avail. We have been refused access to the building housing the lab and the police's press officer can't give us any straight answers. We believe that the NYPD is as lost as we are, they just don't have the guts to admit it," he said, his voice turned bitter. "The question still remains; is it safe for the New Yorkers to walk the streets, knowing the police can't protect them?" the newscaster questioned. "We believe that the people have the right to know what's going on," he finished, looking intently into the camera.

"Mac?" Sheldon said as he walked into the office and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Yes," Mac replied moodily, causing Hawkes to frown and give him a bewildered look.

"What's up?" he asked carefully, it wasn't often something bugged Mac to the extent that he would snap at him.

Mac shook his head as if clearing his mind and turned to look directly at his junior Detective, "I'm sorry Sheldon," he apologized softly. "I'm obviously letting it get to me," he added sarcastically.

"It's okay, I was just coming to tell you that we are assembled in the conference room," he said, wondering if Mac had forgotten he had called to a meeting in the morning.

"Of course," Mac returned and nodded at Sheldon to go first.

As they neared the conference room he saw the expectant faces of the team and Flack, who had squeezed himself down next to Stella.

None of them looked like they had had a decent sleep in days but here they were, ready to start a new day, trying to nail the 'Snake killer' as the media had named him.

"Okay, what about our fourth victim?" Mac asked as he walked through the door and headed for his chair.

Lindsay leaned forward in her chair and turned to look directly at Mac, "His name was Oscar Wilson, a corporate executive for a motor company. He usually went for a run in the early hours to clear his mind; apparently he had a busy scheme. According to his secretary he was a decent and caring man, he had a wife and two small kids. The wife didn't take his death very well," she said sadly. "She had a break down while identifying him down in the morgue. She had no idea of who would like to kill her husband. I have checked and there doesn't seem to be any enemies," Lindsay finished.

"Another dead end?" Danny questioned and made a face at his own words.

Mac's lip curled slightly as he turned to Adam. "How'd it go with our smallest victim?" he asked curiously, turning toward the lab tech.

"Huh," Adam shrugged. "As the veterinarian said, there wasn't much to go on. I examined it and took whatever samples I could from it, but the kids fingerprints are all over it. I have been trying to isolate them from other prints but so far I have drawn blank," he offered.

Mac nodded, knowing it would have been a long shot but it had been worth a try. He nodded at Don and Stella, "What about you two?" he asked.

Stella sighed. "Some idiot at the station didn't think it had anything to do with our case and failed to report it as a possible lead in our investigation. By the time we found out, got the address and managed to get over there someone had cleaned it up," Stella stated bluntly.

"He was there afterwards?"Danny asked in disbelief. "The guy had some nerves," he muttered.

Mac glanced at Danny and could almost sense the frustration around the table as his eyes finally landed on Hawkes, hoping he had had some luck tracing the snake expert. "Sheldon, what about you?"

"I have managed to get hold of the expert; she is in Hong Kong at the moment, but is on her way to New York. I spoke to her briefly and she gave me a basic description of how the venom works, it's a perfect match to the COD on all our victims. There is, however, one thing that doesn't make sense. The dosage that our killer uses is so strong it would kill up to five humans," he said relaying the information he himself had been given.

Mac frowned.

"Sounds like he wants to be sure they really end up dead," Flack speculated.

"Maybe he's afraid the darts wouldn't release enough of the toxin?" Adam offered.

"Whatever his reason might be I don't think we'll get anywhere here," Mac reasoned and turned toward Don. "Flack did you manage to dig something up using your contacts?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet, I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime I'm going through the relatives of the deceased, to see if there is a connection somehow, and it doesn't matter how odd or far-fetched it might be, if there is a connection I'll find it," Don assured.

"Good, how are the rest of you doing, has everything been processed?" Mac asked.

"We now have a separate file on each of the four victims. Everything that has been taken from the different scenes has been processed and the fingerprints checked through the databases. However, we will continue to look out for anything we might have missed," Lindsay reported.

Mac nodded, "You know what to do, I appreciate your efforts, and I'll be leaving for the press conference with Sinclair, anyone who would want to trade with me?" he asked innocently.

"Nah, I'm good," Danny drawled.

"I don't have the gift to give speeches," Don excused himself.

Sheldon just shook his head as Lindsay smirked and Adam looked extremely busy with other things.

Stella patted him on the shoulder, "You'll do just fine, Mac," she encouraged.

oooooooooo

'Well at least the weather was showing from its best side,' Mac thought darkly as he got out of the car down in the garage at Sinclair's office. He quickly took the stairs to the lobby and then walked into the elevator and waited for it to take him to the 10th floor. The Chief, who stood talking to an officer, looked up as Mac made his way over. "You better have something to give them Taylor or there would be a riot down there," Sinclair said and glanced through the window and down at the reporters that awaited the press conference in the inner court.

"It's a slow process, the guy is good but we are better, I assure you we'll get him," Mac said confidently.

Sinclair snorted, "Try and convince the media about that too."

They walked down the corridor Taylor had just come from and into the elevator. The interest of the reporters peaked as they walked out to them. Sinclair saw to his delight that Taylor appeared to be the main focus.

Several microphones were pushed up in front of Mac as he and Sinclair stepped up front. "Detective Taylor, what can you tell us about the serial killer?" One of the reporters asked as he moved as close to the Detective as he dared and Mac could practically feel his private space being threatened.

Another, younger male reporter bullied himself through the crowd and for a moment Mac found himself wondering why Reed had been so quiet lately. "Detective, the New Yorkers demand to know what's really going on," he stated bluntly and there was a murmur through the crowd.

"We have a killer lose on the streets…" Mac began, trying to sound neutral.

The closest reporters huffed and one of them, a young female spoke up. "We already knew that Detective Taylor, the question is; what are you going to about it?"

Mac ignored the comment and continued with a calm voice. "So far we can confirm that there have been four murders in eight days. The victims don't seem to have any apparent connection to each other," he said, presenting them with hard facts.

"We have a phantom sketch on the killer and a possible profile. Yesterday we found the lab in which he mixed the venom to kill his victims," Mac finished.

More hands rose at the statement and several reporters started to talk at the same time. _'Well, that steered their interest,'_ Mac thought smugly.

"Is it true that the theft of the dangerous snake travelling from a zoo in New Orleans is involved in this?" Mac glanced down at the reporter who had uttered the question, a bit surprised. Even that little piece of information had landed in the hands of the media.

"Yes, the snake venom from a saw scaled viper is the substance with which the four people were killed," Mac admitted albeit a bit reluctantly.

"Detective Taylor, you said you might have a possible lead, what exactly did you mean?" A veteran reporter raised his voice over the murmuring voices, locking eyes with him.

Mac smiled politely, he had never said that, it was a clever move of the reporter to make it appear that way and to push him into revealing more information. "I can't share that information with you at the moment, I'm sorry," he said and took a step back to stand a bit behind Sinclair.

"That will be it for today," the Chief said and nodded toward the nearest officer, indicating that they should be given a clear passage back to the office.

Several uniformed officers moved up to Taylor and Sinclair, practically herding them away from the crowd of reporters.

"Just one more," one of the reporters begged, running up to them.

The crowd began to push closer as the uniformed officers pushed them back. Mac and Sinclair glanced back at them. "It's like feeding the fishes, they just want more," Sinclair muttered.

oooooooooo

Something was ringing. Flack tiredly gripped after the alarm clock before realizing it was his phone that rang. And for a moment he didn't know where he was, then realization hit him as he stared at the steering wheel in front of him. _'Great,'_ he thought bitterly, he had fallen asleep on his watch, annoyed he picked it up.

"Flack?" He answered gruffly.

"_You've gotta come man; he's going to kill me,"_ a desperate voice urged him.

Don sat straight up in the car seat, the sleepiness gone, "Who is this?" he demanded.

"Just get here man; you know where to find me." There was a click and the line went dead. Flack stared at the phone for a moment wondering what that was all about, and then it hit him. "Mickey?" he questioned. It was the one contact he hadn't gotten around to yet, he kicked the gear in and floored the pedal, heading for their usual meeting spot.

15 minutes later he was standing in an alley, a hood jacket over his head. A smaller black man slowly made his way toward him, his body language tense. Flack thought it was odd because Mickey never feared anything.

"Walk with me and don't look back," he cautioned by way of greeting the Detective.

"The guy you are looking for is crazy, man," Mickey whispered, cautiously glancing over his shoulder.

"You know him?" Flack asked stunned, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Keep walking," Mickey urged anxiously.

"Would you stop doing that, you're making me nervous," Don replied.

"No, but I have eyes and ears, I see and hear things," his contact countered. "I saw him kill that snake with his bare hands, showed no fear." Mickey cautiously glanced around again. "Rumors say he's been working in the jungle or something, an expert on poisonous animals, I don't know his real name, he's like a chameleon," he offered.

Flack nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"Medium built man, dark brown hair, brown eyes, he is…" the ex-con slumped as something impacted his upper back from behind.

"Hey Mickey!" Flack shouted, looking around and then back at the man in his arms.

Alarmed, Don lowered his informant to the ground and watched in horror at the tufted dart stuck to his right shoulder, "Hey you just hang in there buddy," he encouraged and reached for his phone. Mickey gripped Flack's arm and he could hear a gurgling sound coming from his mouth as blood started to make its way from his ears and nose, "Look in my…pocket," he begged.

"Hey, stay with me!" Flack shouted but it was no use, the man lying in front of him was already dead. He stared down at his dead informant, feeling sick to the stomach. He hadn't even had time to call 911.

Grimly, he reached down and searched the pockets of the now dead man, and put what he found in his own pocket. He gently closed Mickey's eyes and punched in a familiar number on the phone.

"This is Detective Flack, I have a dead body at Fulton Street, I need for it to be picked up and driven to the Crime Lab ASAP." He didn't wait for the reply before ending the connection, dialing again.

"_Taylor?"_ Mac answered in a no nonsense tone.

"Mac, I have got something for you," Flack said in a fuming voice.

oooooooooo

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

_Answers_

oooooooooo

The ME looked up from his desk. "Mac?" he said, surprised at the unannounced visit.

Mac looked grim as he walked up to his old friend. "We have another victim en route Sid, get a pair of gloves, the killer has struck again," he said.

"You have someone at the site?" Sid asked carefully sensing the foul mood Mac was in.

Mac looked at him. "You could say that; Flack was there when it happened," he replied shortly.

"What?" Sid said concerned. "Is Don all right?"

"I think so, I don't know much about it yet…" he was interrupted as the door opened behind them and a gurney was being wheeled in. Mac turned around and spotted a tired Don Flack walking quietly behind, his appearance disheveled and his clothes blood stained.

"Don?" Mac asked carefully. "What happened?"

The younger detective nodded at Sid, his face a mix of anger and frustration. "The victim's name is Michael Allan Kinsley, 26-year- old ex con, quite a vital source of information. I was going to get him off the hook next week," he said in a cold voice that was laced with bitterness and frustration

"Don, I'm sorry," Sid tried.

"Just take care of him," Flack replied as he turned to Mac. "I am going to nail that bastard, Mac, I swear."

Mac studied his friend for a moment, "Flack, calm down, it's not getting any better. Now, can you tell me what's been going on?" he asked.

"Early this morning I got a call; it was Mickey," he said and glanced at the body of his informant. "He told me to come and meet him and that someone was going to kill him."

Mac frowned and patiently waited for Don to continue. "It's all right, Don, take your time," he said softly, knowing this was hard on Flack. It would have been hard on anyone.

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm down a bit. "So I went over there and he was very guarded, he told me he that knew things about our killer. He gave me a description that fits with our phantom; said the guy worked with animals, and was some kind of expert on dangerous animals," he shook his head. "Sorry, Mac, that's all I have."

"It's okay, I'll…" Mac began but was interrupted.

"Wait a minute," Don said suddenly as he remembered the folded paper he had pulled from Mickey's pocket. "He gave me this."

Mac curiously unfolded the paper as Don handed to him, "What is it?"

Flack shrugged, having calmed down a little. "Don't know, I thought you wanted to check it out first," he reasoned.

Mac nodded. "Let's head up to the lab and get Lindsay on this," he suggested, gently steering Don toward the exit.

oooooooooo

Three days later, in the late afternoon, Mac stood in front of the board in the conference room. By now it had been filled with information about their victims and by now the snake killer had effectively murdered five people, two women and three men.

He stared at their faces and wondered what they had done to deserve being murdered. So far it seemed they had been killed for no reason. It had been almost two weeks now since the first case, at the Grand Central Station had come to their attention.

The killer never touched his victims or walked in close proximity, except at the demolition site, meaning he would never be caught on film from the security cameras filming the victims, and he never left prints on the site.

The only thing they could hope for was a print or at least a partial print on the dart that released the deadly toxin in the victim's body, but so far the killer had done everything by the book. The partial prints, that they had, weren't enough to go on.

"What's going on in that logical mind of yours?" Sheldon said walking up to him.

"Nothing new I am afraid," Mac offered and looked at the folder in the doctor's hand. "You've got something?" he asked curiously and looked from Hawkes to the fortyish something, brown haired woman, who suddenly appeared behind his junior Detective.

"Maybe, the poison is very sophisticated, it's from one of the world's most deadly snakes," the woman spoke up.

"Mac, meet one of the world's most skilled researchers when it comes to snake venom, Dr. Annalyn Edwards," Sheldon said as she and Mac shook hands. "This is Detective Mac Taylor, he runs the lab," he finished.

"I heard you were in Hong Kong?" Mac said.

She nodded. "I heard you needed some help and I was on my way to the US anyway," Annalyn offered by way of explanation.

"We'll gladly accept any help we can get," Sheldon replied.

She brought up a USB from her pocket. "Is there anywhere I could plug in?" she wondered.

Mac nodded at the main computer terminal behind his chair.

Dr. Edwards called up a picture, showing a small snake, that couldn't have been more than 40 cm long, with a brown tinged scale. "This is an echis carinatus, a member of the viper family, more specific, it's what you would call a saw scaled viper," she explained.

"This little fellow is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world. It lives mainly in Asia, the Indian continent and in the Middle East. Here in America, you can only find it at the zoos in New Orleans, Las Vegas and New York," she said.

Mac and Sheldon glanced at each other as the snake expert continued.

"They prefer a sandy habitat, or when there is little of that, they enjoy bush climbing. Their venom is mostly lethal since a lethal dose for an adult human is 5 mg and the dose it can give at a time is up to 12 mg. Your killer is using the saw scaled viper's venom to murder people. As you concluded, Dr. Hawkes, the venom he uses is three times deadlier than needed to kill one human being and the symptoms of the venom aren't pretty as you have noticed," she finished.

Sheldon grimaced at the statement but said nothing.

"All the venom can't have come from one snake only, because their glands don't produce that much venom. Does he have any connection to the medical business?" she suddenly asked surprising both Mac and Sheldon.

Mac frowned. "Not as far as we know at the moment, but he did kill a woman working with snakes abroad," he offered.

Annalyn nodded. "This particular snake venom is also used in the manufacture of an anticoagulant," she explained.

Sheldon's interest peaked. "A big business that involves money?" he guessed.

"In a way, yes," she confirmed and rummaged through her bag. "This is the anti venom that neutralizes the lethal dose. Luckily, since the anti venom was created, the rate of death by the snake has decreased from the 20 percent it was before, to almost none, if treated in time," she said and handed it to Hawkes.

"The symptoms are; local swelling and pain where the teeth penetrate the skin. It also causes systematic failures that, left untreated, will kill a human. It's a vicious little fellow," Annalyn finished, staring at the picture.

The research expert turned to Hawkes. "Now, as we discussed on the phone; according to the test results that you've got back from the analysis that was performed on each victim, it is safe to say that there was nothing anyone could have done to save them. When he mixed the portions of the venom he made it so strong that nothing would have helped," she said sadly and continued her informative speech.

"The venom attacks the blood of the victim and causes hemorrhaging, hematemesis, hematuria, the list is longer, causing hypovolemic shock and finally such severe bleedings that there is nothing that can be done if left untreated.

"That's why he chose to kill his victims either in the early mornings or at a place where no one would look for them for some time," Hawkes mused, suddenly understanding one part of the puzzle.

"Yes, the death doesn't occur instantly," she said and unplugged her USB before turning to Mac. "I'm glad I could be of some assistance, I'll stay in New York for a couple of days, please don't hesitate to call me," she said.

oooooooooo

"Danny, have you seen Mac or Stella?" Lindsay asked standing in the doorway to where her husband sat, checking and rechecking data.

"Last time I checked they were both out, what's up?" he said looking up from the computer screen with a serious frown.

Lindsay folded her arms over her chest. "The paper that our latest victim gave Flack is interesting," she answered slowly, almost reluctantly.

Danny got up from the chair and followed her out in the corridor and back to where she had come from, unable to shake off the curiosity he felt.

"Take a look at this," she suggested as they walked into a smaller lab section, a bit further down the corridor. Lindsay walked over to a work station and punched in a series of command on a keypad. Almost instantly a wrinkled and worn paper became visible on the screen.

Danny narrowed his eyes and skimmed through the text on the paper that had been transferred digitally to the computer screen in front of him. It was the piece of paper that Flack's informant had died for a couple of hours earlier. Danny shivered involuntarily at the thought of dying for a piece of information. He just hoped they could draw any conclusions from it, or at least find something while processing the paper. "It's a journal?" Danny asked bewildered and scrolled down the page.

Lindsay turned to meet his skeptical glance with a serious look and nodded. "Imagine a gangster wannabe writing a diary," she said somberly.

Danny nodded and began to read._ "I think I saw a murder today, at the Grand Central Station. There was a man in a zoo uniform walking happily through the crowd, totally carefree albeit looking a bit lost. For a while I envied him and his way of acting, sometimes I wonder where I did it wrong, what path I decided to follow that took me to my misery." _This guy is quite deep, Danny mused all of a sudden. "Wonder what a psychologist would say?"

He ignored the sharp look he received from his wife and continued. _"Anyway, I watched the guy for a moment, it was easy to see he wasn't from New York, 'the big bear' had told me the package was under way and that it would be delivered to me by a messenger from 'out of town'. I must be crazy writing all this down, Flack is really pushing for me to get clean and behave but this has been my life for so long, I don't know anything else. That was a parenthesis. Back at the Central Station, I watched the man in the zoo uniform walk lazily through the crowd and then, all of a sudden, something small impacted his shoulder, and after a couple of seconds, he just collapsed. I carefully glanced around and took in the surroundings but all I saw was a hooded man's back as he quietly removed himself from the site. As I looked back at the victim of this man he was vomiting blood, it became smeared everywhere on his face and hands, he trashed around wildly as if he was having a heart attack. It was like a bad horror movie except it was for real. I've tried to get the images out of my head but I can't. I didn't' dare to stay around for the delivery man as the place started swarming with cops and CSI". _Danny finished the first paragraph and glanced at Lindsay, his face had visibly hardened with every line he had been reading. "He saw the murder Linds," Danny said as anger began to surge through him. 'He saw the murder and he didn't report it,' Danny thought bitterly.

"I know," was her only reply as Danny began reading again.

"_The next day I heard rumors about a woman being killed, a young good looking woman. I saw her sometimes when she walked to her office at the bank. I began to make some enquiries around my associates but no one knew anything about the hooded guy." _

Danny continued to scroll down and read in a monotone voice;_ "I think I saw him today, a medium built man with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. Should tell Flack this, maybe he can put in a good word for me," '_Okay, I might have jumped to conclusions,' Danny thought to himself as he began to feel some hope for the guy who had written the paper.

"_I hear he has been killing more victims and I swear it was him on that roof just after the sun rise, he would have had a clear shot of that jogging man. I tried to lay low but perhaps faith wanted otherwise. One of my friends stopped by and told me the guy was nuts but he hadn't anything to do with the drugs or 'the big bear'; he was some kind of loner who had been working abroad with animals. Don't know how he knew and I never asked." _

"That's it?" Danny asked curiously.

Lindsay nodded. "That's it," she confirmed.

oooooooooo

To be continued. I hope some of you are still with me. Please read and review ;)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_Summaries_

oooooooooo

Mac looked up as Stella walked into his office with a frustrated expression on her face. "Tell me you've got something," he said exasperated.

"I am sorry, Mac, but this guy is good," she said and nodded at the phone. "How's it going with Sinclair?"

Mac followed her gaze and sighed. "If I say he is impatient, you can guess the rest," he offered.

"Not surprising; the media has really blown this out of proportions, it's crazy," she concurred and handed him the latest newspapers.

"What is this?" he asked and unfolded them, staring at the headlines. _'The snake killer strikes again', 'Who says the next target won't be you?', 'The New York Crime Lab is clueless'_.

When he finally looked up at her she saw the fire in his eyes.

Stella threw up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "Hey don't shoot the messenger," she said lightly.

"Sorry, he mumbled. "It's this case, there must be something we have overlooked, just a little something, to nail that son of a bitch." Mac's eyes hardened as he rose from his chair and straightened his shirt. "Assemble everyone in the conference room," he said shortly.

oooooooooo

Lindsay placed a folder on the table spreading out photos of several victims. "The guy knows what he is doing, but the question is why?" she said

"Knows what he's doing?" Danny questioned. "Doesn't he know it's illegal to kill other people?"

"He's been killing; how many is it? Five people, with no obvious connection. What have they ever done to him?" Sheldon asked in dismay.

"Maybe he's a regular psycho?" Adam suggested and shrugged. "I mean, hey let's get out and have some fun, let's kill a couple of people, get famous…" he trailed off seeing the dark expression on his bosses face.

"Adam," Mac warned.

The young lab tech looked down. "Sorry Boss," he said sheepishly.

"Okay, let's take this from the beginning?" Mac said as he turned to glance at Stella.

"Right," she said and called up a profile on the screen. "This is what we have so far. It began nine days ago when Mac and Lindsay was called to a crime scene at Grand Central Station," she explained as all the others stared intently at the screen at the back of the conference room.

Lindsay picked up where she left off. "John Barns, our first victim, displayed no injuries on his body." She looked at Sid, who nodded in confirmation. "However, he was bleeding from the nose, ears and mouth; something caused him to bleed to death."

"We found a needle mark on his skin with a local swelling around and a foreign substance in his bloodstream," Sid explained clinically.

Hawkes leaned forward in his chair. "The foreign substance is now known as the heavily toxic venom from a snake, also called a saw scaled viper, and does not occur naturally in this country," he said, perturbed by the idea that someone would purposely go around and kill other people for seemingly no reason.

Stella called up all the photos of the victims on the screen in front of them. And Sheldon briefly wondered what could drive a person to the extent that he/she would cause another living being harm, to him it was inexcusable.

"He doesn't take any chances, the dosage was far higher than necessary to kill one human being and he is cautions about leaving prints or marks on the murder weapons or at the sites," Sheldon added.

"We do know that our killer prefers to end the victims' lives by shooting them with a tranquilizer weapon, a weapon that is normally used for animal sedation at a zoo. The venom is placed in the small tufted dart where the sedative usually is placed," Stella filled in.

"If only we could get a hold of the weapon, to get a shot at the killer's fingerprints," Danny said, earning a few looks and half-smiles by the remark.

"Maybe we don't have too, we have collected small partial prints from some of the darts and all we need is another one on the right side of the thumb to integrate the partial prints and get a whole print," Lindsay reasoned.

Mac made a face. "We can't wait for that, we have to have something more substantial, let's go through the victim list again," he said softly but everyone could hear, if they really listened, that he was fighting to keep the frustration out of his voice.

Stella opened up the first case file., "Victim One; John Barns, a zoo keeper from New Orleans, he was in charge of the transport with the dangerous snakes taken into the country recently, from New Orleans Zoo Park to our largest zoo park here in New York. He was killed for no apparent reason," she said as information about him and pictures filled the screen.

"Unless he was killed in order to get to the viper," Danny reasoned.

"It's a possibility," Hawkes admitted.

Lindsay spoke up next, "Victim Two; Rose McKenzie, works at the national bank as a loan giver to people with interest in opening a firm or other economical interests, she was killed a couple of blocks from her work; again no one understood why," she said.

"Our third victim," Danny began. "Was Aileen Masters, and here it's starting to get interesting. Masters did voluntary work in the Brazilian rain forest and then back in Asia, at a zoo specialized on lizards and snakes. She also once owned a small company in Asia that worked in the medicine field."

Hawkes straightened in his chair, "Dr. Edwards said the snake venom was used in the production of an anticoagulant," he offered.

"You think her firm was specialized in synthesizing it from the venom?" Mac asked as he turned his full attention on Hawkes.

"Also," Danny continued. "She had a partner that fits the description of our killer."

"There is only one problem with that Danny," Stella said. "He died a year ago on an expedition to Argentina," she returned dryly.

Mac frowned. "Is that a confirmed fact?"

"Papers have been signed but the body was never found," Stella replied.

"So we don't actually know? Look into it again, Stella," Mac said meeting her eyes before glancing over at Hawkes who was ready to present the next victim.

"Our fourth victim was Oscar Wilson, corporate executive for a motor company. I fail to see how he fits into all this," the former doctor let on with a confused look.

"Maybe there was a mix up, his intended target might have been someone else," Lindsay tried as she thought about the diary she and Danny had skimmed through, from Flack's informant.

"Or just maybe, he is a real serial killer with no apparent motive and just kills randomly?" Adam said bluntly.

"We are trying to find answers, Adam, not more questions," Mac replied.

"Sure thing boss," he replied. "Our fifth victim was Mickey, one of Flack's contacts on the streets," Adam filled in. He couldn't put a finger on it but for some reason Mac seemed agitated and it wasn't like him. Adam found himself briefly wondering if Sinclair had implied something about what happened if they couldn't solve this mess.

"Yeah, we read his journal," Danny spoke up as he glanced around the table. "The paper he trusted Flack with," he added as the worn piece of paper showed up on the screen.

Mac sighed. "It all comes back to this medium built, brown eyed man with dark brown hair," he said neutrally. There was something about this case that bothered him, not just Sinclair's threats about hauling his ass away from the crime lab, but something else, it was like the killer was mocking them, slapping their fingers as they thought they drew near.

Danny leaned in over the table, frustration evident on his face. "There must be something that connects all these people, I refuse to believe he would just go out in the street and kill randomly. I mean no one can be that sick," he finished disgruntled.

'_That might be even sicker, to purposely attack people that might have crossed your path and not even knew they had bothered you'_, Mac thought but he didn't voice it, instead he just nodded. "The fact remains that we are no closer now than we were nine days ago," he finished.

Mac then turned to Lindsay. "Lindsay, you and Danny work together and see what you can find out about our victims, run through the databases again and start rechecking witness statements to see if there is anything we might have missed, I know you've done that all ready but humor me," he said simply.

Mac saw his team starting to fold the papers and place them back in their folders and then push their chairs backwards. A smile threatened to surface on his serious face because, even if things didn't look good at the moment, he had the best team at his disposal and he knew they would work till the end if they had too. He couldn't be more proud.

The seasoned Head of the Crime Lab turned to his partner as she slowly rose from her chair. "Stella, you said we haven't got a match on someone leaving or entering the country from the various locations where you could actually find the poisonous venom," he stated.

"It's going to take some time, Mac, time that we barely have," she answered glumly.

"You don't think I know that, Stella? I have Sinclair breathing down my neck and this morning the press was standing right outside the door to the lab," he said as reached for his ringing phone.

"Taylor," he all but snapped.

"_Wow, Mac, I hope you are not angry at me." _Flack said.

"Sorry, Don, what's up?" he asked, already dreading the answer.

"_I have another one for you," _Flack replied unable to keep the frustration out of his voice. 

"Please tell me it's something else, a regular homicide, a drowning…" Mac said hopefully and he saw the rest of his team stop dead in their tracks as they had started to move away from the conference table, quietly listening in.

"_I am afraid not, it looks very much like our snake killer. I'm standing outside the candy bar on the 27__th__," he said darkly. _

"All right, we are coming." Mac replied as he got off the phone and turned to the ME. "Looks like there is another body for you, Sid," he said apologetically, knowing the doctor had been working for twelve hours straight.

"No rest for the weary, I better head back down then," Sid replied cheerfully as he headed for the door.

"Stella, Hawkes, you are with me," Mac said as he got out of his chair.

Lindsay and Danny exited the room heading over to go through the databases again and to try and dig up something, somewhere, until the new evidence bags had been brought in. Adam also left the conference room but to aid Flack with the data the citizen's had brought to the attention of the police.

"Sheldon, when we get back I want you to take another look at the anti venom, talk with Doctor Edwards again and do some research about the anticoagulant business," Mac said as the three of them neared the elevator.

"No problem." Hawkes replied.

Mac took up his buzzing phone, "Taylor?"

"_Taylor, what's going on? Tell me you've got something more." _Sinclair demanded.

"Believe me I am working on that," Mac replied annoyed.

Stella and Hawkes shared a look; they had a fairly good idea who the caller was.

"Long story short, we haven't made much of a progress since your last call, two hours ago," Mac said as he somehow managed to keep his voice neutral.

"_Don't give me that crap Taylor, you are supposed to have the best team for, I don't know how many miles, maybe even one of the best in this country. So don't give me that bullshit, what am I supposed to say at the press conference this evening?" _Sinclair wondered chagrined.

"We might be on to something, I'll let you know, but right now I am heading over to a crime scene," he said and terminated the call and then slipped the phone back in his pocket.

Stella frowned. "You didn't hang up on the chief?" she asked astonished.

Mac shrugged, and for a brief moment a ghostly smile played on his lips. "He was pretty much finished."

oooooooooo

Flack looked up from where he was kneeling next to the body of a woman as the CSI's walked up to him.

"Want a change in career Flack?" Mac asked teasingly.

Don stood up. "No, I'll let you take care of that part. I think I'd better stick to bringing in bad guys and taking care of victims, mostly living ones," he replied wittily.

Hawkes nodded, sitting down next to the Snake killer's last victim. "Shame, Flack, you could have been something," he said and smiled as he glanced from Flack to Stella, who had brought out the camera.

Don looked around the site, sighing, as several reporters stood waiting in the background. "Media is crazy about this snake killer," he said unhappily.

"Tell us about it," Stella smirked.

Mac glanced around the crowd of nosy citizens and reporters before kneeling next to Hawkes, "Anything?" he asked.

"Well, certainly no surprise," Sheldon said and pointed at a tufted dart stuck in the shoulder of the victim.

"I can't help but wonder what it is that drives this guy?" Mac said as he reached for a pair of gloves, donned them and moved over to fetch his kit.

He rolled his eyes as his phone started buzzing in his pocket. 'I can't believe he can't wait till I call him back,' Mac thought hopelessly, preparing to listen to Sinclair's tirade. Sighing, he fished up his ringing phone from the pocket of his coat. "Taylor?"

"_Detective Taylor, this is a warning, keep your little lab rats away from me," _a raspy malevolent voice cautioned him.

Mac tensed and felt the hair of the back of his neck rise, he swirled around to take another look at the body and his eyes settled on the dart. He saw Hawkes and Stella pause in their work to look at him.

"Who are you?" he demanded icily as he then slowly pivoted to scan the surroundings.

"_Your salvation, your death," _the male voice chastised._ "Consider this as a warning, Detective Taylor," _the voiced finished tauntingly.

Mac hadn't time to react, he felt something drill itself into his chest. The force of the impact forced him off balance and down on the ground, he lost grip of the phone and felt something warm spreading through his body. He craned his neck a little and fought to keep his eyes open; there on the left side, just above his heart, he saw a lilac tufted dart embedded in his flesh. Everything else going on around him was lost to him and finally, so was also the lilac tufted dart as his vision grayed. He heard voices but they were fading fast and then he thought he felt a hand on his chest but he couldn't fight it anymore, he gave in to the darkness that wanted to claim him.

"Mac!" Stella shouted as she let go of the camera and ran over to him. She no longer cared if there were a million people watching them or snapping pictures of them, she just wanted to hold Mac, just wanted to make sure she wouldn't lose him. She couldn't lose him, not now, not ever.

Hawkes was at his side in seconds, retrieving the dart, placing it in an evidence bag. "Mac, Mac can you hear me?" he asked worriedly as he searched for a pulse and was relieved to find it there. "Stella, call an ambulance quickly!" he said in a no nonsense voice.

Nodding, she fished up her phone and automatically dialed the number. She answered the questions asked by the operator without not really knowing she was saying. All she could think about was Mac's pale face as she gently placed her hand on his forehead. A thin layer of perspiration was already making his skin hot and clammy. Stella swallowed and then glanced up at Sheldon, willing him to work faster.

After Sheldon had retrieved the dart he wasted no time, he searched his own pockets. He still carried the anti-venom that he had gotten from Doctor Edwards. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found it and held it between his fingers. He got up and grabbed his own kit and retrieved a needle, within seconds he emptied the vial into Mac's bloodstream, praying he wasn't too late. "Come on Mac, you can fight this," Sheldon encouraged.

Stella watched helplessly as the crime scene turned into a total chaos. Flack was shouting at people to keep calm as the reporters was moving as close as they could. The officers at the scene began to push the crowd back, but they were outnumbered. Some people shouted, others panicked and some just stood frozen to the spot. The photographers on site started to shot picture after picture. Uniformed police officers pulled up at the street and began to work their way through the sea of reporters and citizens, trying to get them to back off.

Stella turned to look at her fallen colleague but out of the corner of her eye she saw the lifeless clear-blue eyes of the Snake Killer's victim. She suddenly shivered as she felt the unseeing eyes bore through her soul. _'No,' _she thought desperately, Mac wasn't going to be the next victim.

Stella stared at the pale, and seemingly lifeless, face of her best friend, she couldn't bring herself to do anything else than pray. It wasn't going to end like this, she couldn't lose Mac. She felt sick, her heart constricted in her chest and she felt a knot form in her stomach. To Stella, Mac had never really looked so brittle.

oooooooooo

_To be continued. Thank you guys for the reviews, it's so helpful and inspiring ; ) _


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_One of our own_

oooooooooo

"Okay, I admit it's a weird connection but…" Lindsay trailed off as Danny's phone rang.

"Messer?" he answered.

Lindsay saw his features immediately tense, and her joy of finding something suddenly turned to worry.

"Where is he now, will he be okay?" Danny asked, seemingly upset.

"Danny?" Lindsay asked.

He held up his hand at his wife as he listened intently.

"Sure, we are on our way there," he assured over the phone as he motioned for Lindsay to follow him out of the lab.

"I promise we'll be careful, Stella, just take care of him. If he dies I'm going to…" Danny trailed off; he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. Frankly, he didn't know what he would do without, Mac; he didn't know what any of them would do.

Lindsay was awfully worried now as she followed her husband through the corridors and into the elevator. "Danny, what's happened?" she asked, her voice soft but demanding.

"Yeah, take care, Stella," Danny replied.

He turned and saw the expression on Lindsay's face. It almost broke his heart, and he wasn't sure how to tell her the bad news. However, knowing her she had already guessed what had happened. "It's the snake killer, and he's targeting us now. Mac's been hit," he blurted.

Lindsay felt her eyes water. Danny looked at her sadly. "Hey honey, it's going to be okay, Mac's not going to die he's too stubborn for that," he said and held her tight. "Come on, let's head over to the crime scene and do everything we can to nail the sick bastard."

"Danny, why would he go after Mac?" Lindsay said.

"I don't know, honey, but when we catch him, because we are going to catch him, I'll ask," he assured her.

Lindsay looked up at her husband as they entered the lift-car. "Where's Mac now, is he going to be okay?" she asked.

"I hope so, Linds, I really do. Stella and Hawkes went with him to the hospital, we'll just have to wait until they call," he said as he tried to comprehend what Stella had just said over the phone.

oooooooooo

"53-year old male …" Sheldon began as the ambulance doors opened, not letting Mac out of his sight.

Two doctors and several nurses headed toward the gurney as the EMS rolled it through the entrance of the General Hospital's ER.

A middle aged man clad in a white doctor's coat was the first to reach the EMS team. He glanced at Hawkes before turning his full attention to his patient. "Are you a doctor?" he asked.

"Dr. Sheldon Hawkes," the former ME began. "I work with the New York Crime Lab, and this is," he nodded at the now semi-aware man, "Detective Mac Taylor, my friend and my boss."

"Okay, Dr. Hawkes, I'm Dr. Cross," he introduced himself. "Let's take him trauma room three," he said.

Stella rushed through the doors, coming from the parking lot, just as the gurney was whisked away around the corner. She stopped to catch her breath, and glanced around the admittance bay.

"Larry, that was the man I saw on TV last night," Stella overheard an older woman say to her son.

"That's the detective who was interviewed by the press last night," a female patient exclaimed.

"Hey, are you a detective", a male patient asked fixing Stella with a hard stare. What's going on?" he demanded and quickly made his way over to stand opposite her.

A nurse started to make her way toward them and Stella was thankful. What she was about to say almost made her sick, her own inner turmoil was threatening to take over, but she forced herself to be strong, for Mac's sake. "Listen, sir, I am Detective Bonasera; there is nothing to worry about," she began.

"Worry about?" the man exploded. "That man, who the EMS just brought in, is the Head of the Crime Lab, Detective Taylor. I do read the news."

"Yeah." Another man said, stepping up beside them. "We demand to know what's going on, is it safe to go outside?"

They were afraid, Stella realized, but she didn't have time for this.

The nurse came up to them. "Please this is a hospital, and we need for you to be calm and quiet. Please, do not disturb the patients," she said politely but the small smile on her face was strained.

"Disturb?" the man, claiming he knew who Mac was, said astonished and gave her an incredible look. "She knows something about this killer running lose in our city," he added confidently and pointed at Stella.

Stella desperately tried to look around the corner for any life sign or news about Mac. "Listen, sir, I can assure you that we are doing anything we possibly can," she said trying to be reassuring but even in her own ears it sounded hollow.

"Obviously it's not enough, now he's targeting you as well; he's going to kill all of us!" the man shouted angrily.

Stella looked around; she and the man now had the attention of the whole waiting area and the reception in the ER. She really wished Flack would arrive soon, with some of his officers, before the whole place turned into chaos.

"Hey!" A man in white coat shouted, making his way toward them. "I don't want to listen to this crap in my ER. You, sir, if you don't sit down and wait for your turn and calm down you'll have no place here," he said brusquely.

Stella silently thanked the fiftyish something, dark-haired, pretty handsome, doctor who had come to her rescue as three police officers walked through the doors. She breathed a sigh of relief and hoped to spot Flack but he was nowhere to be found.

The doctor turned to look at Stella, his face now changed from irritation to sympathy. "Detective, come this way," he said as he started to lead her away from the crowded waiting area.

"I apologize for the commotion," Stella said sincerely and reached for her badge. "I'm Stella Bonasera, I'm with the CSI; my friend was rushed in here minutes ago," she explained.

"Don't apologize," the man replied softly. "I'm Dr. Turner, by the way, in charge of this mess," he said by way of introduction.

Before they reached around the corner Stella turned to glance back in the waiting area. Patients, police officers and reporters had quickly been filling in and the room was even more crowded now than it was before. Still a bit shocked by what happened to Mac she jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Doctor Turner was looking at her. "Are you all right, Detective Bonasera?" he asked.

She swallowed and turned to face the doctor with a strained smile on her lips. "Yes, thank you," she said.

"I imagine your people don't get any rest over this, so called, 'Snake Killer'. The whole staff here at the hospital is debating his ways and your inability to catch up with him," he said.

She gave him a poignant look.

"No offence," he said.

"None taken; we are just as frustrated as the rest of New York," she said calmly although inside she felt anything but calm.

Dr. Turner nodded. "People are coming here, claiming they have been hit by things, anything from small rocks to tiny needles, and they are terrified they are going to die. We keep telling them what to look for and, if the unlikely should occur, they wouldn't have to bother with _if_ they may have felt something," he said darkly and sighed. "I imagine with the Head of the Crime Lab lying in a hospital bed, it's not going to get better," he finished and stopped outside a secluded area of the hospital.

"If you want, you can wait here," he said and nodded at the row of plastic chairs in the corridor. "Detective Taylor is just around the corner. I'll promise to come back for you as soon as I have any news."

"Thanks," Stella mumbled. She waited until the doctor had disappeared before slowly easing herself down in a white plastic chair. She sighed and arched forward, letting her head come to rest in her hands. "Please, Mac, be okay," she whispered.

oooooooooo

"Flack!" Danny called. He and Lindsay began to make their way through the crowd. It had been near impossible to reach the site in the first place. He tried in vain to spot Flack in the crowd and, if Danny hadn't know any better he would have thought they were having a street party.

A black haired man suddenly detached himself from the rest of the crowd and waved at them. "I'm over here guys!" he hollered and motioned for two of his officers to go and meet them. "Let them through and get people off the street," he ordered.

"Huh," Lindsay said. "It's crazy out here."

"Tell me about it", the homicide detective snorted. "Have you heard anything?" he asked worriedly.

"Nope, not yet, it scares me just to think about it," Danny admitted as he knelt down where Mac had been laying.

Flack took a deep breath and nodded. "Listen I'm going to head over as soon as I get this mess sorted out," he said and turned to leave them.

"We'll take what we can get from here and head back to the lab," Lindsay said as she went to pick up the camera, which lay on its side on the street where Stella had dropped it one hour earlier.

oooooooooo

Doctor Cross walked briskly down the corridor to Mac's room and carefully knocked on the door. Not waiting for a reply he opened it and nodded at Sheldon, motioning for him to come out in the corridor.

Hawkes took one last look at Mac and sighed, it had been too close this time.

"Dr. Hawkes, I have a Dr. Annalyn Edwards looking for you," he said.

Dr. Edwards walked up to them. "I happened to be in the area and I heard what happened," she said and glanced over Hawkes shoulder. "How's Detective Taylor doing?"

Hawkes scratched his forehead and glanced at the sleeping man in the bed. "His condition is stable at the moment," he said and let out a shaky breath. "Listen, I want to thank you for giving me a dose of the anti-venom yesterday," Sheldon said sincerely.

She nodded. "You gave it to him?" she asked.

When he didn't reply she added. "I saw the news before arriving here."

"Right now I'm just glad he wanted me at the crime scene. But then again, Mac, is good at getting the right people at the right spot," Hawkes said and looked from Annalyn to Dr. Cross.

"I need to sort out a few things, thanks for everything and, please, come and get me if anything changes" he said.

"I will, Sheldon, no worries," the ER physician assured, and gave him a faint smile before he headed off.

"Dr. Edwards, maybe you could explain to me to me how it's possible that Mac is still alive," Hawkes wondered as they began walking toward the hospitals lab section.

"Do you have a sample of his blood?" she asked.

Sheldon looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm sure I can get one from Dr. Cross," he said.

"I can give you a hypothesis. The most likely cause would be that the dose that got into Detective Taylor's bloodstream was very low and that you administered the anti-venom within minutes," she offered by way of explanation.

She stopped walking and turned to look at him. "As for why the dose was much lower I can't say; maybe the dart failed to eject the venom, or he didn't intend to kill Detective Taylor," Dr. Edwards reasoned.

Hawkes thought for a moment but said nothing.

"In this case, the poison didn't have time to spread through his system properly and the fact that that the anti-venom was administered so quickly prevented much of the damage," she explained.

Sheldon nodded.

Did he bleed from the ears, nose and mouth?" she wondered.

"A little from the mouth, that's all I saw," Sheldon replied. He didn't really want to be reminded of how close he'd come to lose one of his friends.

She nodded. "Given the information that you have given me, I'd say he is a very lucky man. However it's still going to take some time before he is well enough to leave the hospital."

Hawkes suddenly laughed. "Yeah, I think you'll be the one to tell him that," he said happily as he saw her confused expression.

oooooooooo

"Detective Bonasera?" The head of the ER said.

Stella smiled faintly at him as he neared. "Dr. Turner," she acknowledged.

"I have some good news. Detective Taylor is going to be all right. He is conscious and resting at the moment. His condition is stable but his body has suffered quite a shock. He will have to stay here for at least a couple of days, to make sure there isn't going to be any complications," he explained.

"Can I see him?" Stella asked, silently hoping the doctor would give her the okay.

"Yes, but only for a short while. He is very weak at the moment and needs his rest," Dr. Turner cautioned as he indicated for her to follow him down the corridor.

He stopped outside a door numbered 406. "Detective Taylor is in there, please don't stay too long," he said seriously.

"I won't," she promised.

She watched the doctor retreat down the corridor before placing a soft knock on the door. "Mac," she said and pushed the door open.

He lay still on the bed with his head slightly elevated. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be asleep. Stella couldn't help but notice the ghostly parlor on his face as she sat down next to him and reached for his hand. She shuddered involuntarily as she studied the various monitors next to his bed.

"Mac," she whispered, gathering all her strengths to stop herself from crying.

Seeing him so weak and lifeless seemed so wrong. Mac was always full of life and so damn stubborn, that sometimes, it seemed like he could withstand everything if he really wanted to.

However this time, not even Mac, could elude what was coming. Her eyes roamed over his bare chest and lingered at the angry red and swollen mark where the dart had penetrated the skin. Ironically, it was in the same spot as his old injury.

He slowly opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her, "Hey Stella."

She let out a shaky breath and carefully bent down to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "Mac, I…I thought you were going to die," she said fighting to keep her emotions at bay.

He looked up at her sad face and reached up with his hand to gently remove the tear trickling down her cheek. "Stella, it's okay, I wouldn't leave you, not like that," he said softly, his voice reassuring but tired.

"When you fell, I just…I think I lost it. I just stood there and responded automatically as Sheldon shouted at me to call an ambulance," she admitted sheepishly.

He looked into her eyes with a serious expression on his exhausted face. "He called me, said this was a warning, I don't think he wanted to kill me," Mac reasoned.

"He shot you, why would he do that?" Stella returned in disbelief.

"'_Detective Taylor, this is a warning, keep your little lab rats away from me.'" _Mac replied.

Stella ran a hand through her unruly hair and bit her lower lip.

"I asked who he was and he said he was my salvation, my death," Mac finished.

"What kind of sick bastard is he?" she asked angrily.

"Stella, I need you to get back to the lab and find the last piece of the puzzle," Mac said as he felt the exhaustion threatening to pull him under. As much as he loved her company he needed her to nail the killer once and for all.

She looked at him, confused.

"Just go and don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he reassured as he fought to keep his eyes open.

Stella nodded and bent down to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. She watched his eyes flicker slightly and smiled to herself as she turned to exit the room.

oooooooooo

To be continued.

_/I know this was a long chapter, see it as a compensation for the long wait ;_ )


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

_Mistakes_

oooooooooo

"I'll be damned," Danny muttered.

"What?" Lindsay asked.

"We've got a match," Danny said cheerfully, staring at the screen intently. "He left us the final clue."

Lindsay peered curiously over her husband's shoulder as all the partial prints on the screen started to come together.

The computer was in the process of bringing out a file of the perpetrator. It displayed a medium built man with brown hair and brown eyes.

Danny read the name, flashing on the screen. "Carl Muller."

"Come on, let's dig up everything we can," Lindsay said triumphantly while she stared at the man on the screen. "And Danny, get Adam here to help us."

Danny nodded and headed off.

"Got you," Lindsay whispered smugly as she pushed the print button.

oooooooooo

Sid stepped out of the elevator on the 35th floor. It had been six hours since he had received the latest victim and he still hadn't heard anything from the lab, he was getting worried. He walked by Mac's empty office, and a couple of lab sections, before spotting Adam and Danny engaged in a conversation. He wandered over and knocked on the doorframe. "I came up here to see if you were still around," he said softly.

"Sorry, Sid, it's been one crazy day," Danny apologized.

"Did my findings give you any clues?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Don't know yet, I just got here to try and get him to help Lindsay and me in our search for our killer," he said pointing at Adam.

Sid frowned. "You mean you've identified him?" he asked curiously.

Danny gave him a cocky smile.

"I think I've got something," Adam admitted as he looked intently at the screen in front of him, seemingly oblivious to the conversation that had taken place right behind him.

Both Sid and Danny turned to look at him.

Adam scratched his face. "Susannah Hess lives and works…," he trailed off, confusion written all over his face. "…in Asia?" he questioned.

"What?" Danny returned. "No, no, that can't be right."

Sid looked from Danny to Adam, completely clueless.

"Actually it makes perfect sense," Stella said as she walked up from behind.

The three of them turned around to look at her.

"How's Mac doing?" Danny asked, not daring to hope. However, something told him that Stella wouldn't leave his side if he wasn't on the road to recovery.

She sighed. "He is still very weak but he's holding on. Everyone assures me that he will make a full recovery, and that he was extremely lucky. However, he will be kept under close observation at the hospital for a few days," she said.

"I am not so sure Mac would want to spend a couple of days at the hospital," Sid replied.

Danny chuckled. "I bet he isn't."

Adam smiled. "You were saying, about Susannah Hess?" he wondered and looked directly at Stella.

"She worked with Aileen Masters. Susannah was employed by her company in Asia; apparently she accused Aileen's business partner, Victor Bender, of unfair business and trading on the black market," Stella explained.

"Did he?" Adam asked.

"No, I don't think so," Stella replied. "However, there are reports about a woman being seen selling drugs to the poor people in the villages. My guess is that it was either Aileen Master's or Susannah Hess, and that Victor Bender somehow found out."

"Then they got rid of him. Well that's nice," Sid commented.

Danny frowned. "Wait a minute; I thought you said she didn't have a company, when she died; that she'd lost it?"

Stella stared at him blankly.

"Earlier, you said, Aileen Masters, didn't have a company," Danny said.

Stella nodded, her brief confusion suddenly replaced by smugness. "She didn't. Aileen was arrested and deported from the country but no suspicions were ever mentioned about Susannah Hess."

"So, Aileen Master got deported while Susannah Hess gave up the shady business and turned to work at a legal medical facility?" Danny asked.

"It would seem that way," Stella concluded.

"Seriously, this Victor Bender really had a motive, it's a shame he is dead," Adam mumbled.

"There is something about that guy that doesn't add up. I can't put my finger on it but…" Stella trailed off, glancing at the case file and then at Adam. "Dig deeper, Adam, and see what you can find about Victor Bender."

"I'm heading back to Lindsay, we've finally gotten a print from our killer," Danny said happily.

Adam turned to look at him, astonished. "You did, and you neglected to tell me?" he asked.

"If you had listened to me in the first place… but no, you didn't," Danny returned.

"By the look of surprise on your face when I told you about Victor Bender I take it, the print of our killer didn't belong to him?" Stella said.

Danny shook his head. "No, it belongs to a Carl Muller. Lindsay is printing a profile as we speak," he said and began walking toward the door.

Stella nodded and followed.

"Where are you going?" Sid called.

"We're going to see how Lindsay is doing on her end," Stella said and felt the relief flowing through her veins. Even though this, Victor Bender, was a mystery to her, the snake killer wasn't; not anymore.

oooooooooo

There was soft knock on the door and Hawkes lifted his head from the table, yawning.

Annalyn Edwards smiled at him. "Breakfast?" she asked and handed him a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria.

"You know you don't have to stay and help me," he said sincerely, even though he appreciated it.

"When it comes to snake venoms and how it affects the human body I'm as interested as you, Sheldon, or even more interested," she replied and sat down next to him.

"I'm a bit curious; this business with the anticoagulant is it lucrative?" Hawkes asked.

Annalyn nodded. "To some extent, it is, on the black market. Why do you ask?"

"It's connected with the case; one of the victims once had a company in the manufacturing business," he explained.

"What's her name?" The snake researcher asked, suddenly even more interested.

"Aileen Masters," he replied.

Annalyn shook her head. "I am afraid it doesn't ring a bell," she offered.

"Susannah Hess," Hawkes tried.

Annalyn frowned and looked him in the eye. "She worked for many years at a medical facility back in Asia. How is she involved in all this?" she questioned.

The former ME made a face and stared down at his empty cup. "She was one of the other victims," he answered somberly.

"I didn't know her very well, but I think I knew her enough to say that she was a decent woman that didn't want to earn money on poor and sick people," Annalyn replied. Seemingly upset that a person she thought she knew would turn up dead in New York.

oooooooooo

Lindsay glanced at Stella as the phone started ringing.

Stella took a deep breath and prayed it wasn't from the hospital. She placed the phone next to her ear and answered, "Bonasera."

"_It's Flack, I'm sorry to bother you, are you with Mac?" _the homicide detective asked, wasting no time on further introduction.

"No, I'm back at the lab, he said he wanted me here and assured me he would be fine. "Are you there, has something happened to him?" Stella asked as she felt her heart starting to beat faster.

"_No, I'm sure Mac is fine. Trust me, I want nothing else than to head over and make sure, for myself, that he is but right now I'm standing at a crime scene. It looks like our killer is on the move again," _Don said.

Stella breathed a sigh of relief, not that she usually did when someone called in a murder, but this time it was special. "Okay, tell us where and Lindsay and I will come over," she replied.

oooooooooo

Stella parked the car and threw a hasty look at her watch; it was almost noon, and swore under her breath. The work at the crime scene had taken longer than expected and she had to leave Lindsay on her own. She walked briskly through the hospital entrance and then rode the elevator to the third floor. She forced herself to calm down as she walked over to the nurses' station and flashed her bag. "I'm here to see Detective Taylor," she said.

The young nurse, whom she thought she'd recognized from the day before, smiled at her. "Stella Bonasera?" she asked softly.

She nodded.

"He's been waiting for you," the nurse said.

"Thanks," Stella said as she turned around and began to make her way toward his room. It didn't take her long to round the corner and stand outside his door. She had the decency to look sheepish as she entered his room.

"I'll come by tomorrow morning, huh?" he questioned.

"Sorry," Stella said as she sunk down in the hard plastic chair next to his bed.

"How's it going back at the lab?" Mac asked with a wry smile.

"We're starting to make some progress but the killer is still going strong. I have just come from another crime scene," she replied unhappily.

The look on Mac's face told her he was far from amused with the news.

oooooooooo

Two hours later, the team, minus Mac and Sheldon, plus Flack, had gathered in the conference room.

"Okay guys, are you ready for this?" Adam asked walking up to the rest of them. "Richard Wollen, our latest victim, turns out to be a highly renowned psychiatrist. I made some phone calls, did a little research, and guess what?" Adam leaned over the computer next to Lindsay and punched in a command.

Seconds later a file was displayed, showing a psychological evaluation of a man named Drew Jackson. "This file was sent here by Dr. Wollen's colleague, Jeannie Cole. It took some persuasion to get her to hand it over, but when she understood the importance of it, she was quite willing to make an exception to the doctor patient confidentiality," the lab tech said.

"Wait a minute," Flack said, recalling his talk with Mr. Samuels at the zoo. "That's the name of the guy who got John Barns job at the zoo," he said skeptically.

"Exactly," Adam said and opened up another file, showing the merits received from the New Orleans Zoo. "He's also been working abroad, for example in Brazil and Asia, with dangerous animals, mostly snakes," Adam finished with a satisfied look on his face.

The color drained from Stella's cheeks as she glanced at a picture of Drew Jackson, it was the same person as Victor Bender, except he was much older.

"So," Lindsay said. "Dr. Wollen was onto him about the murder of John Barns and threatened to go to the police if he didn't come clean. Luckily, he did what he usually doesn't; he shared the information with his colleague and friend Dr. Jeannie Cole," she said.

Adam nodded. "They discussed it as late as yesterday evening, after they'd been watching for news about our investigation and news about Mac," he said.

"How did the psychiatrist figure it out?" Flack asked curiously.

"During their latest session, Drew Jackson's behavior had been irrational at best. He had mentioned a former partner, that he had loved very much, and how he had felt betrayed by her," Adam answered, remembering his conversation with the psychologist's partner.

"Aileen Masters?" Danny asked skeptically

Lindsay nodded, "Must have been," she said.

"He claimed he couldn't get a decent job anymore. The last job he had, had been taken from him, without him doing anything wrong, and given back to some guy who didn't deserve a second chance," Adam said as he relayed the information he had been given just moments before from Dr. Jeannie Cole.

Flack sat down as realization hit him. "He was talking about John Barns," he said.

"We were right all along, it is connected, all of it," Danny whispered.

Stella pressed her lips together in a thin line and set her jaw. _'Carl Muller, Victor Bender, Drew Jackson, you'll never hurt anyone again,'_ she thought darkly.

oooooooooo

_To be continued._

_Well, that was another long chapter ; ) _

_A huge thank you to all the people who read and review, you are wonderful. _


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_Identified_

oooooooooo

Sheldon sighed as he gingerly sat down in a white plastic chair outside in the corridor. It was getting late and the steady stream of patients and doctors had long ago diminished. He yawned and stretched carefully trying to work out the kinks in his back. He had been thrown between fear, hope and despair the entire day and it had left him exhausted. In an effort to try and keep awake, he reached for the newspaper lying on the table. He grimaced as he saw the headline; 'The Snake Killer strikes again'. Annoyed he put it down rather quickly, deciding he had had enough with the case at it was. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Hawkes!" Flack hollered amusedly as he glanced at the former ME, half-asleep.

Sheldon slowly opened his eyes and saw Lindsay, Danny, Flack, Adam and Sid walk toward him.

"How is Mac?" Flack said, voicing the question everyone wanted to ask.

"Very good actually, all considered. With any luck he will be out of here tomorrow," Sheldon said.

The team visibly relaxed and let out a collective breath.

"Finally, things are in our favor," Danny said happily.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes suddenly noting the smugness on his colleagues face. "What's going on?" he wondered.

"We have him, Hawkes, we have him," Danny said. "We know who the killer is."

oooooooooo

Mac had a curious look on his face as everyone gathered around him. "Something tells me you are up to something," he said.

They all smiled as Lindsay walked closer to Mac and handed him a thick folder labeled; 'The Snake'. "Let us present to you our snake killer," she said and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Do we know his whereabouts?" Mac asked with a mischievous look on his face.

"Easy there, Mac. You can't expect us to hand you everything," Flack cautioned.

"A picture of our guy has been distributed to the precincts in the neighboring area. Every officer on the street around here knows who to look for," Danny assured.

Stella sat down on the bedside next to Mac and looked at him, her expression serious. "It was the same person all along; Drew Jackson, Victor Bender and Carl Muller."

Danny nodded. "Yes, the man was truly a chameleon," he said.

"So, he came back from the jungle, after researching about snake venoms, and decided to apply for a job at the New Orleans Zoo Park. Unfortunately, John Barns, refused to let go of his job. He was desperate to try and feed his family. He got his job back and Drew Jackson had to leave without explanation as of why and what he had done wrong," Mac reasoned.

Danny looked at Flack. "He hasn't lost his touch," he mumbled and nodded toward Mac.

"It takes more than venom from the saw scaled viper to bring him down," Flack returned amused.

Mac frowned as Stella chuckled.

"Anyway, he didn't care much about it at first and actually tried to move on. He had plans on leaving the country again and head back to the jungle to start a new company. However, Rose McKenzie didn't hand over the necessary money as he thought she would. She discussed the loan with her chief, Mr. Reed, and they both came to the conclusion that it was a risky investment," Lindsay explained.

"It turned out that our killer came from an abusive family where drugs were not uncommon," Adam said. "In the file we got from the psychiatrist's office it said that Carl Muller wanted to leave everything behind and start over as his parents died when he was fifteen. He changed his name to Victor Bender and managed to raise enough money to get an education that specialized him on snakes and other poisonous animals," the lab tech filled in.

"Seems like poison fascinated our guy," Sid remarked.

"Just like you are fascinated with dead people," Hawkes said patting him on the shoulder.

Stella spoke up. "Victor Bender and Aileen Masters met each other on a course for volunteer work in Asia. They took instant liking in one another and after a couple of months they were engaged to be married."

"Some move faster than others," Danny mumbled as he dared a look at his wife.

"To outsiders it looked like Aileen had a small company that specialized in the medical field, more specific, a company that produced an anticoagulant, a medical drug. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg, the legal part of the business. She combined that with selling second quality of the drug to a cheaper price to the poor, to make some additional money," Stella finished.

"The poor people that didn't have the strength or the money to refuse what she had to offer," Lindsay said with disgust.

"She became a powerful and important person to the people she employed and to the people living near her factory," Flack said.

"Seems like a nice woman," Adam remarked.

"At first Victor Bender didn't have all the details, and he thought she was doing something good for the poor people while she placed the money in her own pockets. They were halfway through writing wedding invitations when Aileen suddenly decided to share her secret with him. Feeling used by her as he had worked for the company he broke off the engagement and threatened to go to the police," Stella said.

"I take it; it didn't go as he planned?" Lindsay asked.

Stella shook her head sadly. "No, instead Aileen Masters somehow managed to get Victor Bender to get the blame for her dirty business and he had to leave the country in haste," she replied.

"I never thought it was possible, but I'm starting to feel a little for this guy," Danny said.

Lindsay looked at him. "You'll get over it," she assured. "Back in the states again, Victor Bender started from the beginning and got a job as a cleaner at a motel and worked there for a couple of years. Then one day he walked into a robbery while cleaning a room. He was beat up pretty badly and shot. He had to spend several months recuperating and when he finally got out of hospital he had a bill he couldn't pay off and no job as he couldn't fulfill the cleaning contract," Lindsay said.

"That's what really ticked him off," Mac spoke up as he had been listening to the explanations given by his team. "He had lost everything and had no one to turn too," the lead CSI reasoned.

"Don't forget the shrink," Flack offered.

"It's called a psychiatrist, Flack," Sheldon said, "It's a professional job," he added seriously.

"Still I don't trust them, they are worse than the scum out in the streets," Don said.

"Victor Bender owned a boat in Brooklyn, and according to this, it got destroyed in an accident at the Hudson River last year. Its owner was supposed to have drowned but the divers never found the body," Mac said reading in the folder.

"He started over, this time he officially took the name Drew Jackson," Stella said. "And that was one of his mistakes. That way we could actually connect him with a work application at the Zoo and then go backwards," she explained, looking directly at Mac's pale face.

"He went back to New Orleans and watched John Barns for a while to learn his routines, and when Barns left to oversee the transport to New York he followed," Mac reasoned.

"He got the snake out when Barns was on a lunch break, he was gone only a minute but it was enough for Jackson to grab the snake and take it with him. It was believed that the snake had escaped so Barns got the blame for it because he left it unattended. Jackson then took it to the old warehouse where he started to make plans for his revenge," Lindsay added.

Stella nodded. "The same place where the three kids happened to be playing and found the snake approximately a week later."

"Having worked at a Zoo he had no problem getting in to the New York Zoo Park and grab a tranquilizer weapon, which he intended to use on his victims," Adam reasoned.

Mac's hand unconsciously went to where the dart had hit him.

"Does it still hurt?" Hawkes asked worriedly.

"Not that much," Mac said and removed his hand, not wanting to talk about it. And he definitely didn't want to admit that it stung.

"So, he waited for the right moment, back there at the Grand Central Station, to get back at Barns for taking his job away from him. Of course he knew that hitting Barns with the dart would create a mass hysteria among the other travelers and that he would be able to get away from the site relatively easy," Sid said.

"Aspiring to become a Detective, Sid?" Mac asked teasingly.

"It can be quite intriguing," the ME admitted.

Hawkes leaned against the back of Mac's bed frame and continued the explanation, steering the conversation back on track. "Seeing it was a success he prepared for the next kill; Rose McKenzie. He waited until she was only a few blocks away from her work and hit her from behind. The dosage he used on her was stronger than on Barns and she instantly fell forward, going into cardiac arrest, and then bled to death on site," the former doctor said, his features grim.

Mac ran a hand over his face. "He probably followed our every step on the crime scenes to make sure we had nothing to go on," he said thoughtfully, finally understanding why he had been targeted. If this Drew Jackson or whatever he wanted to be called, had known that shooting him would only double his team's efforts to nail him, he wouldn't have bothered. At first Mac had wondered what everyone else wondered, why didn't he die? It made perfect sense now, Jackson had no quarrel with Mac, and he only wanted him out of the way. He wanted to scare them off because he knew they were on to him.

Stella watched him carefully as he seemed lost in his own thoughts. "You look tired, Mac," she said softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I am fine Stella," he assured as his eyelids started to drop.

"Are you sure Mac?" Lindsay asked worriedly.

"Yes, Lindsay," he said. "Now let's hear the rest of it."

"I bet you've probably guessed the rest," Adam said astonished at Mac's ability to see the clues.

"By accident he ran into Aileen Masters at a fundraising event for scientific studies of snake venoms. When it was over he followed her around for a couple of hours, before ending her life. Still somewhat in love with her, he walked over to the site to have one last look at her," Lindsay said, solving the question as of why the killer had suddenly turned up on the site.

Flack looked at Mac. "The boot prints," he said as realization dawned on him.

"The question is; what was she doing in those neighborhoods?" Mac asked.

Stella frowned. "An even better question is what a small photo of Victor Bender was doing in her bra?"

Flack shrugged, "I guess we'll never know," he offered.

"I still don't get why he murdered Oscar Wilson?" Hawkes said.

"A mistaken identity," Danny guessed. "The guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"He thought it was Mickey," Flack answered. "Mickey liked to run early in the morning and Jackson knew he was on to him, making inquiries about him," he added.

Mac nodded thoughtfully, his sharp analytical mind finally piecing everything together. "When watching the news later that day, Drew Jackson must have realized that he had killed the wrong guy. He started to follow Mickey around," Mac said looking at Flack. "He caught up with him when he was in the middle of telling you what he had seen."

"Why didn't he kill Don as well?" Sid wondered.

"Because Mickey was the one he was after, he had only one dart; one portion of the venom. It takes time to prepare another dose," Sheldon explained.

"Who was the woman at the latest…at the crime scene we went to?" Mac asked looking from Stella to Hawkes.

"Her name was Susannah Hess. Jackson recognized her from Asia where she worked as a lab assistant in the medical factory. She was the one who helped Aileen to put blame on him," Stella answered.

"Our latest victim was Carl/Victor/Drew's psychiatrist, he approached Jackson, wanting him to come clean," Lindsay said.

Flack rolled his eyes. "He walked up to the guy and told him he knew he was the snake killer?" he questioned, not really believing a guy could be that foolish.

"Not exactly, but he hinted that Jackson needed to confess something and take responsibility for his actions," Lindsay finished.

"That got the good doctor a place at the morgue," Danny filled in.

The door opened and Dr. Turner walked in. "I really think you should let Detective Taylor rest now, you have been here for hours," he said and glanced at Sheldon who averted his gaze. "Dr. Hawkes you should know better," the chief of the ER admonished.

Sheldon grimaced. "I kind of got carried away," he said lamely.

"Actually it's all right; I am feeling better now, besides they should leave anyway," Mac replied and felt all attention suddenly drawn back to him.

They all looked at him curiously.

He raised one of his eyebrows. "You have a case to close and a killer to catch," he explained as if it was a given, and a tired smile played on his lips.

"Right boss," Adam said as he rose from the chair.

"I'll head back to the precinct to see if there has been any news," Flack offered.

Lindsay squeezed Mac's shoulder, "Take care now Mac," she said softly.

Hawkes and Danny walked out after Lindsay, saying their good byes, while Stella stayed behind. As the door closed behind her colleagues she turned her attention to her partner.

"Promise me something Mac?" she said seriously and reached down to remove some strands of his dampened hair from his forehead. "Don't you ever do something like that again."

"I can try," Mac offered. "See you tomorrow?" he asked innocently.

Stella couldn't help but smile. "You bet, and I better be here in the morning to make sure you don't discharge yourself," she said.

oooooooooo

_To be continued ; ) _

_Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! It's wonderful to know you're out there. Sadly there's only one chapter left now. _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

_Caught_

oooooooooo

Lindsay looked up from the items that belonged to John Barnes and Aileen Masters as Adam walked into the room carrying several empty boxes. He placed them on the bench and walked over to help her pack. She nodded in appreciation; she had been cataloging and filing things connected to killings half the day and could use some help.

"Huh, Drew Jackson was quite active on the field," Adam remarked.

"Poor man," Lindsay said. "I wonder what he would have been like if he had had caring parents, a good education and a loving woman at his side."

Adam made a face. "He did manage to get quite a good education," he said and reached for another box. "I'm not sure the rest would have helped. I mean something had to be wrong with this guy. You don't just walk around and kill everyone you don't like or the one's not doing it your way."

"I didn't mean it like that, I was just…" she trailed off, not really knowing how to explain.

"You're not worried about who Lucy is going to turn into, are you?" Adam asked smiling.

Lindsay returned the smile. "Absolutely not, she has loving parents," she said and then suddenly chuckled. "Although, her father might be a little wild sometimes," she added.

Adam was about to say something when Stella, Hawkes and Danny suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Any news?" Lindsay asked, alarmed and curious at the same time as she saw the serious faces of her colleagues.

"I'm heading over to the hospital to Mac," Stella said. "Danny and Sheldon are meeting up with Flack, we might have a lead on our killers location."

"Be careful," Lindsay voiced. "All of you," she added.

oooooooooo

Doctor Cross watched his patient unhappily from a short distance as he buttoned his shirt. "Detective Taylor I must warn you; you are not fully recovered yet," the doctor cautioned.

Not one to be intimidated by a stern voice or what could happen if he didn't take it easy. Mac glanced up from the row of buttons and nodded at the physician. "I'm fine," he said casually.

"Please, detective, you must understand that it was a close call and it left your body weakened. It will take time to recover; you should at least take a few days to rest," Dr. Cross said in mild annoyance.

Mac glanced at the doctor as he went on to button his sleeves. '_If he only knew,'_ Mac thought. "With all due respect, Doctor Cross, it's not the first time I have had a close call, I'm quite aware of my own limitations," he replied stubbornly.

The doctor seemed to contemplate the answer he had been given and then turned to scrutinize his patient for a moment. Coming to the realization that he had lost the argument, he gave the detective a curt nod. "I give in, but I don't like it. I sincerely hope it's worth it," he said.

"Believe me, it is," Mac assured.

Mac attached his badge to his belt and shrugged into his jacket. "I assure you, I'll take it easy, but not until I have this mess sorted out," he added.

"Let's pretend I didn't hear the last part," the physician said and held out his hand. "Good luck, Detective Taylor."

"Thank you," Mac replied and headed for the door.

oooooooooo

When Stella walked through the doors to the ward that Mac was supposed to be residing in she wasn't surprised to see him standing at the reception, talking with one of the nurses.

"Mac, are you really ready to go?" Stella asked doubtfully.

"Thanks," Mac said to the nurse as he turned to Stella, smiling. "I'm not staying here, Stella, thanks for coming to get me," he said.

"I said I was coming to visit, Mac," she said and eyed him sternly, not sure whether or not this was such a good idea.

He gave her a slightly disgruntled look and started for the elevator, Stella wasn't slow to follow.

"Of course I would come and get you. I mean, who knows what you might do otherwise," she said teasingly.

"Detective Bonasera, Detective Taylor," a familiar voice called as the elevator doors opened.

"Doctor Turner," Stella said as she stepped in after Mac, pushing the button for the ground floor. "I hope things have settled down," she said softly.

Doctor Turner shrugged gently, making a face. "It's never quiet in the ER, detective," he replied ironically and turned to look at Mac. "I'm glad to see you standing, Detective Taylor, it's debatable if it's wise just yet but…" he let it go with a shrug as Mac turned to glare at him.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of him," Stella reassured the physician. "I think it's the 'snake killer' you should worry about."

"I've heard the most crazy rumors day in and day out about that guy," the doctor complained.

"We have his identity," Mac assured. "It won't be long before we have him in custody," he said ignoring reproachful look Stella was giving him for saying we.

The elevator came to a halt and they stepped out. "Take care, detectives… and I hope you are right, it would be so nice to have some normalcy back at this place," Dr. Turner said longingly as he glanced out in the reception area and the crowd of people standing there.

oooooooooo

Glad they had both managed to escape the hospital without being stopped by scared citizens demanding to know what was going on, or the press, Mac breathed out a sigh of relief as Stella unlocked the car.

"Heard anything new from Flack?" Mac asked curiously as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"Not yet. I sent Danny and Hawkes down to the precinct," she said as she keyed the ignition.

Mac nodded, dialing a number on his phone. "Take me to the lab," he said and glanced over at her.

She stared at him. "Nice try, Mac, but you are going home," she said. "The doctor didn't even seem to agree with you leaving the hospital bed in the first place."

Ignoring his partner's concern for him he silently waited for Don to answer. "Flack, it's me, yeah I'm all right, Stella and I are heading back to the lab, how's it going?" He asked and leered at Stella.

"Are you sure about that?" Mac asked surprised and saw his partner glance his way.

"Okay sounds promising; we are heading over to you," he said and put the phone down.

"I'm still taking you home, Mac," she warned.

"Change of plans, Stella," he said.

As she glanced at him she saw the determination glint in his eyes. There was nothing holding him back. She threw him a curt nod. "You win, Mac, where to?" she asked.

oooooooooo

Flack strapped his vest tightly and checked his service gun as Danny walked up to him, adjusting his own bullet-proof vest.

"So this is it?" Danny questioned as he glanced up at the old hotel a little further down the street.

He pictured it had been a pretty nice hotel in its days but now it was nothing but an empty shell waiting for the eternal rest. The façade was cracking and most of the windows were missing or broken. The once so beautiful garden was ridden with weed and the lawn hadn't been mauled in years. Its former owner would turn in his grave if he saw the fancy hotel now.

"Yeah, we have him surrounded," Flack assured.

"Shame, Mac, couldn't come to the party," Danny said.

The corners of Flack's lips curled as another Avalanche pulled up beside theirs. "I wouldn't bet on that," he said.

Hawkes went over and opened the passenger door. "Mac, I had a chat with your doctor yesterday…" he began, clearly not happy about Mac being on the location.

"I'm not staying back Hawkes," Mac replied in voice that held no room for argument. He climbed out of the car and grabbed the vest Flack threw at him.

"Are you crazy? You're still experiencing the effects of the venom; tiredness, soreness, light- headedness. Am I right?" Hawkes pushed. "I didn't help save your life just to see you waste it."

Mac turned to him with a serious expression on his face. "I know my limitations, Hawkes, and I appreciate your concerns, but I am going in." He returned deadpan and rechecked his weapon.

Stella, clad in vest with gun in hand patted Hawkes on the back. "Let's go," she encouraged.

Hawkes let out a frustrated sigh and fixed Mac with a disapproving glare. Seeing him coordinate their effort, acting like he used to, Sheldon gave up and shrugged.

Mac and Flack nodded at each other as they neared the old hotel. Flack and Messer broke off from the rest of them to head for a side entrance as several uniformed officers headed for the back door.

Stella carefully went through the front door with Mac and Hawkes close behind. They worked their way up a small service staircase. Coming up to the second floor, Hawkes and Stella took one side each while Mac fell behind in the middle. The silent shuffling of their feet was getting on their nerves.

oooooooooo

Flack had his back close to the wall as he slowly made his way forward in the corridor from their end, he took a deep breath and threw himself around a corner; no one was there. He turned around and nodded at Danny, indicating that it was clear.

They continued the action until they reached the smaller service staircase at the back of the building. Danny carefully opened the door and grimaced as the old hinges shrieked. Flack quietly slipped past and aimed his gun upwards; again there was no one around. He nodded at Danny, indicating that they should head up.

oooooooooo

Stella peered around the corner; the corridor ahead of them was empty. Mac nodded at Stella and Hawkes to take one side each while he trailed behind in the middle. A faint noise coming from inside one of the hotel rooms made Stella stop dead in her tracks. She slowly and carefully turned to face the door, pointing her gun at it. Mac moved up beside her while Hawkes grabbed the handle and awaited a signal, and they nodded at him to open it.

"Hey!" Danny said, stepping out with Flack right behind.

They all breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their weapons.

"Anything?" Danny asked no one in particular.

Stella shook her head, as she lowered her gun.

Hawkes looked up at the ceiling as a faint scraping sound echoed through the structure, Flack followed his gaze. "It's not my guys," he offered.

Mac nodded at them and headed for the staircase, taking the lead. Within moment they all spread out on the floor above. The corridor equaled the ones on the other two floors they had just searched, except this floor housed several suites. The noise came from the room at the other end of the corridor. Mac moved to stand on the right side of the door, Stella on the right, Danny and Hawkes a bit behind and Flack right in front of it. They nodded at each other, guns ready.

"Drew Jackson, NYPD, open the door!" Mac shouted angrily.

There was a shuffle inside and Flack threw himself at the door. Unfortunately the old steel door refused to give even an inch.

"Come on Flack!" Stella urged.

Frustrated he made another attempt. This time the door frame gave way and they rushed through the opening.

It took only a moment to determine that the room was empty.

"Crap!" Flack shouted angrily.

"Where did he go?" Danny asked.

Stella rushed out of the room. "He's not in the corridor," she said.

Mac narrowed his eyes and headed for the window. Glancing out, he saw a man clinging to a drainpipe carefully making his way toward the fire escape. "He's heading for the fire escape," he said and turned on his heels, heading out of the room.

Don reached for his radio. "Suspect is reaching for the fire escape on the third floor, we are in pursuit!" he shouted to the officers.

Mac pushed the door open to the stair and pointed his gun down at the man below. "NYPD, give it up Jackson!" he demanded as he had his gun trained on the suspect.

The man temporarily stopped dead in his tracks but then suddenly bolted from the spot and rushed down the flight of stairs.

Danny moved up to stand beside Mac and fired a warning shot; the guy didn't even slow down. They rushed after him, knowing Stella and Flack were on their way down, inside the house, in an attempt to intercept the suspect on the ground.

Drew Jackson had a slight smile on his face as he reached for the last step and began to run on solid ground. However, the smile on his face was suddenly wiped off to be replaced by a look of confusion as he was tackled from behind. A moan escaped him as he tumbled to the ground.

Stella Bonasera had a satisfied look on her face as she pinned the suspect to the ground. "You are under arrest Drew Jackson," she panted and secured the handcuffs behind his back. When she was convinced he would not struggle she roughly turned him around. "You are under arrest for the murders of John Barns, Rose McKenzie, Aileen Masters, Oscar Wilson, Michael Allan Kinsley, Susannah Hess, Richard Wollen and for the attempted murder on Detective Mac Taylor," she said, fighting to keep her voice neutral. _'You S.O.B,'_ she thought angrily.

Mac walked up to Stella and the suspect, the rest of them following. He kneeled next to the 'snake killer'. "You have the right to remain silent but anything you do say may be given in evidence against you in court," he said icily.

"You are good, Detective Taylor. "I might have underestimated you and your team," Jackson snarled. The look on his face was not one of a man who had just been defeated. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," he admitted deadpan.

Stella tightened her grip and then pushed a knee into his back, making sure he would stay put.

Jackson leered at the female detective and grimaced. "Your lady friend doesn't seem to trust me," he said mockingly as his face split in a devilish half-smile.

Ignoring the killer's pathetic way of trying to provoke him, Mac glanced down at their serial killer. "Why, Jackson, or should I call you Bender or Muller?" Mac asked calmly.

"It's simple detective, they ruined my life," Jackson said.

"So you decided to play God?" Mac asked angrily. People like Jackson made him feel sick. He rose and indicated to Stella to do the same. Danny walked up to help her and forcefully grabbed the killer; to have him stand on his feet.

"Do you know how many hours of sleep I have lost because of you?" Danny asked, fighting to keep his temper in check.

Jackson turned his head to look at him. "Yeah I can see it," he mocked.

Messer grabbed him and had not Mac placed a hand on his arm the suspect would have ended up on the ground again.

"Danny," Mac warned. "He is not worth it," he said and nodded at Flack. "He is all yours, Don, take him back to the precinct, Jackson's not going to harm anyone else."

"You were packing your things, were did you planning on going?" Stella spoke up as Danny handed the killer over to Don.

"Back where I belong, where everyone understands me," was all Jackson said.

oooooooooo

As Mac, Stella, Hawkes and Danny walked up to the entrance of the building that housed the New York Crime Lab, they were taken aback by the large gathering of reporters waiting for them and stopped momentarily.

As they neared, several reporters tried to break out from the gathering in order to get closer to them.

"Detective Taylor, how are you feeling?" A young, eager reporter shouted from the middle of the crowd and held up his microphone.

Several reporters whipped their heads around as the first question was asked.

"Detective Taylor, how come you survived the killers shot?" Another reporter asked, this one a female, who stood at the front of the gathering.

Several uniformed officers moved up to stand between the CSI team and the reporters, causing them to intensify their efforts to reach Mac and his people.

"Rumors say another victim was brought in this morning, can you confirm that?"

This time Mac couldn't make out who had asked the question.

"Detective Bonasera, can you tell us the latest news?" Another one tried.

"Detective Taylor, a couple of hours ago there was a large gathering of police officers at an old abandoned hotel…" A veteran male reporter begun but his question was drowned out by another voice shouting out a question for Sheldon. "Doctor Hawkes, what exactly is the venom that the killer uses?"

Mac breathed a sigh of relief as no one seemed to pay much attention to the question delivered just before. He found himself wondering how they acquired the information in the first place.

One reporter snuck up behind one of the officers and stuck his microphone next to Danny and Mac who stood slightly in front of Stella and Hawkes. "When is the 'snake killer' going to get caught, do you call in extra resources?" Danny fixated the reporter with a fierce stare as Mac pointedly glanced at the officer in charge.

The uniformed police man took the hint and nodded at Mac and his team to come with him as the rest of his uniformed men begun to press the reporters back just enough to let the CSI's pass.

Mac started walking but didn't get very far as all reporters tried to get some time of their own with him.

Another three uniformed officers walked up to the group of reporters and started to get them to spread. "I am sorry, sir," one of them offered to Mac.

Mac nodded and glanced around with a smug expression on his face. "A press conference will be held at the 12th precinct tonight with Chief Sinclair, I will attend it as well," he stated and took a step forward before stopping again, this time for seemingly no reason, and he smiled. "Two hours ago the so called' 'snake killer' was apprehended and placed into custody. There will be no more victims at his hands," Mac announced.

It was finally over.

He and his team had done it again; they had nailed the bad guy. _'If Sinclair was going to give him a hard time for giving the news to the press before the actual conference, so be it,'_ Mac thought contently.

Stella smiled and reached out to squeeze Mac's shoulder as Danny and Hawkes walked up next to them so that they stood united like one tight family, they nodded at each other, smiles all around, before entering the building, leaving the chaos outside.

oooooooooo

The end

_/Thank you very much for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the story; I know it's a bit complex. Believe me, there were times when I thought…okay…how am I going to solve this ;) Please take your time to review and tell me if it was good or bad. This is it folks! _


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